How Ayatollah Khomeini changed Iran
This episode was originally published on the 22nd February 2024.
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News.com.au
14 hours ago
- News.com.au
Benjamin Netanyahu has three months ‘to finish the war in Gaza', experts say
Benjamin Netanyahu has a three-month window to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages from Hamas and 'finish the war in Gaza', political analysts have said, amid global condemnations of the worsening starvation crisis in the territory. On Sunday local time, Israel declared a 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza, began air-dropping food into the territory, and said it would allow the United Nations and other agencies to open secure land routes 'to increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering' the Strip. The moves coincide with Israel's parliament, the Knesset, adjourning for its three-month summer recess – a political time-out during which no bills can be advanced and no government-overthrow attempts can be made. Yohanen Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based, nonpartisan think tank, told The Washington Post the break gives the Prime Minister 'three months of political calm' to change tack on Gaza without the risk of being ousted. 'There is a growing realisation that the war the way it's conducted is not moving us forward to either of the war goals,' he said. Earlier this month, a poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 revealed 74 per cent of the population – including 60 per cent of those who voted for Mr Netanyahu – support an agreement with Hamas that would release all the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the Gaza war. Almost half (49 per cent) of respondents said the leader's reasons for insisting on a phased hostage-release deal were political, while 36 per cent said they were security-oriented. And more than half (55 per cent) said they believed his handling of the situation in Gaza was bad, versus 41 per cent who said they agreed with his conduct. Mr Netanyahu has denied repeated – and mounting – criticism that he has prolonged the war partly for his own personal political benefit, ahead of elections slated for next year. Hebrew University political scientist Gayil Talshir told The Post the Prime Minister 'has no room left to manoeuvre', adding: 'He has to finish the war in Gaza.' 'Now that the coalition is already on the verge of collapsing, Netanyahu has about three months to do whatever he wants before he has to gather all the coalition partners again and decide whether to dissolve the Knesset and go for early elections or try to survive another year,' Dr Talshir said. Mr Netanyahu's government now holds only 50 of 120 Knesset seats. In a post on X on Sunday, Israel's Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Mr Netanyahu of discussing and implementing the loosening of aid behind his back. 'This is a surrender to Hamas's deceitful campaign, which endangers the lives of IDF soldiers,' Mr Gvir wrote. 'This surrender is far more serious after the Prime Minister said on Friday that 'we will examine alternative ways to release the hostages'. 'It turns out that the 'alternative way' is to surrender to Hamas and its deceitful campaigns and to increase the humanitarian aid that reaches it directly. This path distances the return of the hostages and, above all, distances the absolute victory in the war. 'The only way to win the war and bring back the hostages is to completely stop the 'humanitarian' aid, conquer the entire Strip, and encourage voluntary migration.' Former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told The New York Times on Monday that 'Israel needs to fight until Hamas is defeated'. Its failure to do so, he claimed, was because of 'an incoherent Israeli strategy, tremendous international and regional pressure against Israel, and Hamas's willingness to leverage the suffering of the civilian population for its own cynical benefit'. Israel needs to 'strategically regroup, formulate a plan to defeat Hamas and provide a regionally and internationally acceptable solution for the future of the Gaza Strip', Mr Conricus added. 'Far from the solution' The war in Gaza has now dragged on for almost 22 months, creating a deadly wave of starvation and malnutrition among more than two million Palestinians – one human rights groups say has been exacerbated by an Israeli blockade on supplies, imposed from March to late May after ceasefire talks broke down. The easing of the blockade coincided with the beginning of the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) operations, which effectively sidelined Gaza's traditionally UN-led aid distribution system, and which have been criticised as grossly inadequate. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday welcomed the IDF's steps to reduce restrictions on lifesaving aid, but said it 'is far from the solution to end this nightmare'. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, 147 people – including 88 children – have died from malnutrition since October 2023. The UN and humanitarian agencies have begun delivering more truckloads of food after Israel announced its 'tactical pause' – which the IDF said in a statement should disprove 'the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip'. Mr Netanyahu has also denied Israel was deliberately starving civilians – but on Tuesday, two local rights groups, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, accused the country of 'genocide' – a first for Israeli NGOs. The amount of aid entering the territory still falls far short of what is needed, experts said, calling for a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of more border crossings and a long-term, large-scale humanitarian operation. 'We're one-and-a-half days into these new measures,' Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN's humanitarian agency, told AFP from Gaza. 'Saying whether or not it is making a difference on the ground will take time.'
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- News.com.au
Ill-equipped and tired: a night with a Ukrainian air defence unit
A menacing buzz reverberates through the night sky in eastern Ukraine. Explosions ring out, flashes illuminate sunflower fields below and the smell of gunpowder poisons the air. "There! Three kilometres away!" shouted one Ukrainian serviceman in the air defence unit equipped with Soviet-era weapons and tasked with intercepting Russian drones, before they home in on Ukrainian towns and cities. The long-range unmanned aerial vehicles originally designed by Iran but improved and launched by Moscow have been devastating Ukraine since the early chapters of the Kremlin's invasion launched in early 2022. Moscow has trumpeted its industrial-scale production of the cheap weapons, with state-television broadcasting what it called the world's largest drone factory. The rare footage showed the assembly of hundreds of jet-black triangle-shaped Gerans -- geraniums in Russian. On the night in July that AFP embedded with an air defence unit in Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Russia launched 344 drones, but its largest-ever barrage comprised of more than 700. "It's rotten tonight, just like the day before," said one serviceman in the air defence unit, leaning over a radar. Increasingly sophisticated Gerans are flying at higher altitudes and able to alter course en route, but Vasyl's unit is equipped with old, short-range weapons. "They fly chaotically and unpredictably. It has become harder to destroy them," the 49-year-old told AFP. "We're effective, but I can't promise that it will be like this every week," he added. - 'Nothing we can do' - Oleksandr, a fellow serviceman defending airspace near Pavlograd city, was scrutinising a radar where hundreds of red dots were appearing. "There's nothing we can do. It's not our area," he said of the incoming drones. His 20-year-old daughter, who lives in Pavlograd, was not answering her phone, he told AFP while lighting a cigarette. "But I warned her," added Oleksandr, who like others in this story identified himself with his first name or army nickname in line with military protocol. An explosion boomed, the horizon glowed crimson and dark smoke appeared in the sky moments later. President Volodymyr Zelensky has secured several Patriot batteries from allies since the invasion began and is appealing for funding for 10 more systems. But the sophisticated systems are reserved for fending off Russian missile attacks on high-priority targets and larger cities. Ukraine is instead seeking to roll out cheap interceptor drones to replace units like Vasyl's, and Zelensky has tasked manufacturers with producing up to 1,000 per day. "People and modern weapons" are what Ukraine needs to defend its air space, Vasyl told AFP. The teams get little sleep -- two hours on average, or four on a good night, and perhaps another one between drone waves, Vasyl said, adding that the deprivation takes a physical toll. One serviceman with another air defence unit in the eastern Donetsk region, who goes by Wolf, told AFP he has problems sleeping anyway due to grim memories he has fighting in east Ukraine. - Sleep deprivation - Belyi who works alongside Wolf was assigned to the unit regiment after he sustained a concussion and a shell blew off part of his hand while he was fighting in eastern Ukraine. Both were miners in eastern Ukraine before Moscow invaded. Russian drones are threatening their families in the city of Kryvyi Rig, in the neighbouring region further west. Neither has been granted leave to visit home in more than two years and they are instead working around the clock, seven days a week. Back near Pavlograd, sunrise reveals dark circles under the soldiers' eyes, but the buzz of a new drone wave emerges from the horizon. The unit's anti-aircraft gun fires one volley of tracer rounds, then jams. The team grabs WWII-era machine guns and fire blindly in the air. Another drone in the Russian arsenal is the Gerbera, once an unarmed decoy used to overwhelm air defence systems that have since been fitted with cameras and are targeting Vasyl's team. "Only fools are not afraid. Really," he said. On his phone he showed an image of his two blond-haired children who are now living in the capital Kyiv -- also under escalating bombardments. "I'm here for them," he told AFP.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
US and Israel boycott two-state solution UN meeting
While a limited number of aid trucks are entering Gaza, a United Nations conference is underway in New York. Its aim is to work towards a two state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. But its been boycotted by both the US and Israel.
