Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbour Bridge
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of demonstrators braved pouring rain to march across Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge on Sunday calling for peace and aid deliveries in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian crisis has been worsening.
Nearly two years into a war that Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, governments and humanitarian organisations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.
Some of those attending the march, called by its organisers the 'March for Humanity', carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger.
"Enough is enough," said Doug, a man in his 60s with a shock of white hair. "When people from all over the world gather together and speak up, then evil can be overcome."
Marchers ranged from the elderly to families with young children. Among them was Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Many carried umbrellas. Some waved Palestinian flags and chanted "We are all Palestinians."
New South Wales police and the state's premier last week tried to block the march from taking place on the bridge, a city landmark and transport thoroughfare, saying the route could cause safety hazards and transport disruption. The state's Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that it could go ahead.
Police said they were deploying hundreds of personnel and urged marchers to remain peaceful.
Police were also present in Melbourne, where a similar protest march was taking place.
Diplomatic pressure ramped up on Israel in recent weeks. France and Canada have said they will recognise a Palestinian state, and Britain says it will follow suit unless Israel addresses the humanitarian crisis and reaches a ceasefire.
Israel has condemned these decisions as rewarding Hamas, the group that governs Gaza and whose attack on Israel in October 2023 began an Israeli offensive that has flattened much of the enclave. Israel has also denied pursuing a policy of starvation and accused Hamas of stealing aid.
Australia's centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he supports a two-state solution and Israel's denial of aid and killing of civilians "cannot be defended or ignored", but has not recognised Palestine.
Therese Curtis, a marcher in her 80s, said she had the human right and privilege of good medical care in Australia.
"But the people in Palestine are having their hospitals bombed, they're being denied a basic right of medical care and I'm marching specifically for that," she said.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Australia considering price floor to support critical minerals projects, minister says
By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australia is considering setting a price floor to support critical minerals projects, including rare earths, Resources Minister Madeleine King said, in comments that led to a jump in share prices for Australian-listed rare earths miners. Australia has been positioning itself as an alternative source of critical minerals to dominant producer China for use in sectors such as the automotive industry and defence. But prices for some metals like rare earths have been too low to fund processing capacity in Western nations, meaning that China has remained the world's dominant supplier. "Pricing certainty means companies and investors are less exposed to volatile markets and prices, which are opaque and prone to manipulation," King said in a statement first reported by the Australian newspaper on Monday evening. Australia's policy of building a strategic reserve aims to provide price certainty for emerging critical minerals projects such as heavy rare earths, she said. "Mechanisms for an appropriate price floor are under active consideration," she added. Shares in Australian producer Lynas Rare Earths rallied more than 6% while shares in Iluka Resources and Arafura Rare Earths were both up more than 8% on Tuesday. U.S. rare earths producer MP Materials last month unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics. That pricing deal, which offered a minimum price floor that a buyer would pay, was set to have global implications, analysts said at the time. The move was positive for producers, but could increase costs for consumers such as automakers and in turn for their customers, analysts said.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Important': Huge boost to key Aus sector
Australia will lift the number of foreign students allowed to study in the 2026 academic year to 295,000, in a bid to safeguard the 'incredibly important export industry'. The figure is 25,000 higher than the number allowed by Education Minister Jason Clare for the 2025 academic year, but is still 8 per cent lower than the influx of international students after borders opened post-pandemic. It will also not account for students at TAFE or those who enrol in a public-funded university but previously attended an Australian high school. Universities will be able to request an increase to their 2025 allocations, but they must be able to show an increased engagement with Southeast Asia - as part of Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 - and that they have enough student accommodation to cater to both domestic and international students. The largest proportion of students from overseas were from China (23 per cent), India (17 per cent) and Nepal (8 per cent). Mr Clare said international education - worth $51bn to the Australian economy in 2023-24 and employing more than 250,000 workers - was an 'incredibly important export industry', but needed to be sustainably managed. 'International education doesn't just make us money - it makes us friends,' he said. 'This is about making sure international education grows in a way that supports students, universities and the national interest.' Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government's priority was ensuring the international education sector maintained the 'integrity of the migration system'. 'We are making sure student visa processing supports genuine education outcomes and our strategic priorities – including increasing provision of student accommodation,' he said. 'This is about backing providers who do the right things and giving them the certainty they need to grow sustainably.' Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles also welcomed the exclusion of TAFE from the cap, saying it would allow the international VET sector to grow sustainably and better meet skills needs. 'The diverse nationalities of international VET students present an opportunity to strengthen our international partnerships,' he said. 'From today, VET providers can plan recruitment with confidence for 2026, knowing they will continue to enjoy equitable access to student visa processing.'
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu to urge ‘full conquest' of Gaza as ceasefire talks reach an impasse
Negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza appear to be at an impasse, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaning towards expanded military operations and Hamas demanding the humanitarian situation be addressed before it returns to talks. Netanyahu will urge a meeting of the security cabinet on Tuesday to support the full 'conquest of the Strip' according to reports in Israeli media that were described as accurate by a source familiar with the matter. Israel's Ynet cited senior officials close to Netanyahu as saying: 'The die is cast – we're going for full conquest. If the Chief of Staff doesn't agree – he should resign.' The source told CNN that the defense establishment opposes an expansion of ground operations in areas where the hostages are believed to be held, as it would risk putting them in harm's way. The report was criticized by a group of mothers of Israeli soldiers, saying it would be fatal for both hostages and soldiers. The Palestinian Authority called on the international community to intervene. Asked about plans to widen the military campaign, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Monday it reflected 'a wish to see all the hostages come back, and the wish to see the end of this war after the talks for a partial deal were not successful.' It's unclear whether the Israeli government's approach is in line with that of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff spent three hours with the families of Israeli hostages on Saturday, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum quoted him as saying that the plan 'is not to expand the war but to end it. We think the negotiations should be changed to all or nothing. End the war and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time – that's the only way.' 'We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home,' Witkoff reportedly added. 'Someone will be to blame' if the remaining living hostages do not return to Israel still alive, he said, according to the forum. When asked, Witkoff's team did not offer any further information on the special envoy's comments. Trump said Sunday that Witkoff would likely be traveling to Moscow later in the week. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. There was widespread shock in Israel at the release of images by Hamas at the weekend of two of the hostages – Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski – looking weak and emaciated. Netanyahu said the images demonstrated that Hamas 'don't want a deal. They want to break us with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda they're spreading around the world.' However, the families forum warned the government against expanding the military campaign in Gaza. 'Netanyahu is preparing the greatest deception of all. The repeated claims of freeing hostages through military victory are a lie and a public fraud,' the forum said Sunday. The forum called on Israel and Hamas to commit to bringing 'the 50 hostages home, ending the war, and then rebuilding and reviving Israel,' the statement said. Hamas has insisted it is committed to negotiations but only when 'the catastrophic humanitarian situation' is addressed, according to Basem Naim, a senior Hamas political official. Another Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, told CNN last week there was 'no point' in continuing talks as long as Gaza's starvation crisis persists. Hunger-related deaths in Gaza spiked in July, the World Health Organization said last week. Malnutrition rates reached 'alarming levels,' with more than 5,000 children under five admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition in just the first two weeks of July, WHO said. The Hamas-controlled Government Media Office in Gaza said Monday that 600 truckloads of aid were needed every day to alleviate the hunger crisis and claimed that in the past week an average of 84 trucks a day had entered the territory. COGAT, the Israeli agency supervising the delivery of aid into Gaza, said Monday that more than 200 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations on Sunday. But many of the trucks that do get in are looted, either by desperate civilians or organized gangs. The United Nations said on Friday that nearly 1,400 people have been killed since the end of May while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of sites run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and 514 along the routes of food convoys. The UN said that 'most of the killings were committed by the Israeli military.' Thirty people were killed on Sunday while trying to get food, 19 of them in the north and 11 in the vicinity of an aid site run by the GHF in Rafah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. Opinion polls in Israel have consistently shown a large majority in favor of ending the conflict in Gaza and securing the release of the hostages. A new survey by the Institute for National Security Studies found that 38% of Israeli Jews thought it was not possible to disarm Hamas; 57% thought it was possible. On Monday, hundreds of retired Israeli security officials urged Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza. 'It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,' the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media on Monday. 'At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war,' said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service. But far-right members of the government are pushing for the occupation of much of Gaza and measures to encourage its population to leave the territory altogether.
