Israeli onslaught kills scores in Gaza as Trump visits Gulf states
Most of the victims, including women and children, were killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in airstrikes that hit homes and tents, they said.
The dead included journalist Hassan Samour, who worked for the Hamas-run Aqsa radio station and was killed along with 11 family members when their home was hit, the medics said.
The Israeli military said its air force had struck 130 targets used by militant groups in Gaza over the past two days.
Israel has intensified its offensive in Gaza as it tries to eradicate Hamas in retaliation for the deadly attacks the Palestinian militant group carried out on Israel in 2023.
In Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on Al-Tawba medical clinic killed at least 15 people and wounded several others. It took Thursday's death toll to 85, medics said.
Hamas said in a statement that Israel was making a 'desperate attempt to negotiate under cover of fire' as indirect ceasefire talks take place, also involving Trump envoys and Qatar and Egyptian mediators in Doha.
Palestinians on Thursday commemorated the 'Nakba', or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced to flee their towns and villages during the 1948 war that gave birth to Israel.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Israeli military expert predicts Gaza war to continue for 10 years
Warning: This story contains language that could be distressing. Across Gaza, rows of blue tarpaulin sheets are home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. As summer temperatures soar, these tents are stifling. For people who have had to move countless times during 21 months of war, the shelter they provide is still welcome. There is a sense of frustration and desperation among the Palestinians living in this community in central Gaza. As the war in Gaza rages on, Israeli forces' displacement orders threaten to send them elsewhere in the strip. And amid all this is uncertainty about the future and what it could bring. "My biggest fear is to lose my parents, my children, my wife — the people I love," Mohammed Skiek, 40, told the ABC. If his family are killed, they will join more than 59,000 other Palestinians who have lost their lives during Israel's war in Gaza, according to Gaza health authorities. With Israel showing little sign of easing its bombardment of Gaza, his concerns are well-founded. Images of devastation across the territory and of starving children lying helpless in hospital beds have again fuelled debate about Israel's ultimate goal in Gaza. The criticism levelled at the Netanyahu government is that it has moved well beyond trying to retrieve Israeli hostages and destroy Hamas and that its rhetoric and actions are indicative of more sinister plans for Gaza. As the war in Gaza approaches its second anniversary, there is a sobering prediction from former members of Israel's military. Gabi Siboni is a colonel in the Israel Defense Forces reserves and an expert in military strategy at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. He told the ABC he believed fighting would continue for another decade. "What's the alternative? We need to clean Gaza. This is a task for years," he said. His views stand in stark contrast to the overwhelming majority of international opinion, which has been critical of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza and, in particular, the lack of aid entering the strip. "Israel is conducting this war in the most humanitarian way ever, both in the humanitarian supply that the population is receiving and in the non-involved deaths that we have," he said. "We try to reduce that as much as possible." Last week, Australia joined more than two dozen other countries in condemning restrictions on aid deliveries and demanding an end to the war. More than 100 humanitarian agencies have warned: "The Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza." Colonel Siboni does not see it that way. "The Gazan population is a parasite population," Colonel Siboni said. "They have lived on humanitarian aid for the last 20 years. "And so the current situation is that the aid funnelled into Gaza is much, much more than sufficient to the needs of Gaza." Palestinian health officials say at least 101 people, including 80 children, have died of hunger — most of them in recent weeks. Recent events have shown the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are prepared for the total occupation of Gaza. Since the last ceasefire was shattered in mid March, and Israel launched Operation Gideon's Chariots, the IDF's control of Gaza has grown exponentially. Data collected by the United Nations suggests evacuation and displacement orders issued by the military have left 93 per cent of the strip either under Israeli military control or declared combat zones. Palestinians have already been squeezed into a tiny part of Gaza. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has floated the idea of moving at least 600,000 Palestinians into what he has called a "humanitarian camp" built on the ruins of Rafah in Gaza's south. Humanitarian advocates have likened the proposal to something more like a concentration camp, designed to depopulate the north of Gaza. Citing a "need to eliminate Hamas", Colonel Siboni outlined the plans. "Palestinians who enter would not be allowed to leave," Colonel Siboni said. "We invite the population of Gaza to go to areas with full control of the IDF, what is called a humanitarian town, city or compound, and they will be there until we finish Hamas. "I don't see the problem." Even before the kite-flying exercise of the Rafah "humanitarian city" idea began, Mr Katz described the goal of taking control of large swathes of the strip. "The population of Gaza is evacuating from the fighting zones, and large areas are being seized and added to Israel's security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated," he said in April. Israeli media have reported deep concerns about the idea within the government and the IDF. There has been discussion about the viability and merits of the camp: Could it be built quickly enough? Would it be too expensive? How would it be run? The IDF chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has reportedly said the proposal has "more holes than cheese". The debate has reached Gaza's desperate residents. "Katz's proposal is hopefully a failed one. They want to forcibly deport people to Rafah, and I hope it will fail," Saja Al-Bahisi, 21, told the ABC. "It is an uncomfortable feeling for sure." Umm Fadi said if people wanted to move from their homes to Rafah, they would have done it on the first day of the war. "Why would we have paid this high price — blood, genocide, people who died — to end up in a small lot in Gaza to be concentrated there?" she asked. Rami Jaber Nawfal said Israel wanted to displace the Palestinians and take control of Gaza. "We refuse this," he said. "We are ready to die altogether if that's the case." Maya Rosenfeld, an expert in Israeli Palestinian policy at the Hebrew University, was not convinced the Israeli government would ever pursue the Rafah city proposal. "The whole thing is that you do not leave [the Palestinians] any means of re-establishing themselves," Dr Rosenfeld said. Dr Rosenfeld said Israel's real intention could be seen through its widespread destruction of Gaza as, according to the Israeli government, it targeted Hamas fighters and facilities. She described it as destroying the "infrastructure of existence" — not only things like housing, water and sewerage pipelines and roads, but also schools and workplaces where Gazans have the opportunity to learn and provide for their families. "Gaza has been under extreme conditions for many years now," Dr Rosenfeld said. She argued the high death toll across the strip, now reaching towards 60,000 people, according to local health authorities, was evidence of a dramatic shift in policy. "What do you think, you can bombard a place day after day … and you say, 'OK, to reach one Hamas militant, we kill 40, 50 people?'" she said. "It's clear that the target here is to kill the people and to destroy their existence. "I think Israel has actually entered a war of annihilation — annihilation doesn't necessarily mean, you know, the killing of 2 million Palestinians … but it is to make life in the Gaza Strip impossible." The current war began after Hamas launched deadly attacks in Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. About 50 hostages are still in Gaza, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive. "I don't want to belittle Hamas's responsibility here, I don't want to overlook it," Dr Rosenfeld said. "Without the attack on the seventh of October, all this would not have taken place. Perhaps Israel would have looked for another opportunity." With the war dragging on, thousands of Israeli reservists are now refusing to serve. Among them is Yotam Vilk, who spent more than 230 days on the front line in Gaza. "I proved myself. Like, I was willing, I put myself in danger, I was willing to take the actions in need," he told the ABC. "I know I'm not a pacifist. Again, we understand that war has consequences. We understand that the situation is complicated. We don't advocate for Hamas. "I was fighting Hamas for a year. I lost friends in this war." But for Mr Vilk, a 30-year-old master of law student, the shifting goalposts became too much. "At some point, I think everyone in Israel will have to face the facts of the situation; that we're all in in Gaza currently," he said. "At no point did anyone in the IDF get a command to do actions to ethnic cleanse Gaza as a means of killing civilians. "But the IDF is oblivious towards what we'll call collateral damage, so it doesn't really matter, so you could kill a lot of people under that justification." Three reservists took their concerns about Israel's actions to Israel's Supreme Court. They challenged the legality of displacement orders across the Gaza Strip and the so-called humanitarian city under Operation Gideon's Chariots. The court has dismissed their petition. Mr Vilk argued loud voices within the Netanyahu government were demanding that the war continue and that Hamas and the Palestinian population be destroyed. Two far-right ministers have been sanctioned for inciting extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he will not allow "even a grain of wheat" to enter Gaza, which he says will be "entirely destroyed". National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for the Palestinian population to be pushed out of Gaza, saying "we must encourage emigration". "We have to end this war at any means necessary. We have to stop digging the hole that we're currently still digging," Mr Vilk said. That would be achieved, he said, through a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas. But Colonel Siboni argued there was very little room for negotiation, insisting a deal with the militant group was a fruitless pursuit. "We took the issue of hostages to the extreme," he said. "I've made my choice between the national security and the security of the hostages. I choose our national security, which is a very hard thing to say, but such is life."
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
US migrant raids spark boom for private detention providers
Donald Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history has appalled some Americans. But others are cashing in on the boom in demand for private detention centers. Migrants captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents need to be temporarily housed in places like the facility being readied in California City, prior to deportation. "When you talk to the majority of residents here, they have a favorable perspective on it," said Marquette Hawkins, mayor of the hardscrabble settlement of 15,000 people, 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of Los Angeles. "They look at the economic impact, right?" California City is to be home to a sprawling detention center that will be operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest companies in the private detention sector. The company, which declined AFP requests for an interview, says the facility would generate around 500 jobs, and funnel $2 million in tax revenue to the city. "Many of our residents have already been hired out there to work in that facility," Hawkins told AFP. "Any revenue source that is going to assist the town in rebuilding itself, rebranding itself, is going to be seen as a plus," he said. - Boom - Trump's ramped-up immigration arrests, like those that provoked protests in Los Angeles, saw a record 60,000 people in detention in June, according to ICE figures. Those same figures show the vast majority have no conviction, despite the president's election campaign promises to go after hardened criminals. More than 80 percent of detainees are in facilities run by the private sector, according to the TRAC project at Syracuse University. And with Washington's directive to triple the number of daily arrests -- and $45 billion earmarked for new detention centers -- the sector is looking at an unprecedented boom. "Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now," Damon Hininger, executive director of CoreCivic, said in a May call with investors. When Trump took office in January, some 107 centers were operating. The number now hovers around 200. For Democratic politicians, this proliferation is intentional. "Private prison companies are profiting from human suffering, and Republicans are allowing them to get away with it," Congresswoman Norma Torres told reporters outside a detention center in the southern California city of Adelanto. At the start of the year, there were three people detained there; there are now hundreds, each one of them attracting a daily stipend of taxpayer cash for the operator. Torres was refused permission to visit the facility, run by the privately owned GEO Group, because she had not given seven days' notice, she said. "Denying members of Congress access to private detention facilities like Adelanto isn't just disrespectful, it is dangerous, it is illegal, and it is a desperate attempt to hide the abuse happening behind these walls," she said. "We've heard the horrifying stories of detainees being violently arrested, denied basic medical care, isolated for days, and left injured without treatment," she added. Kristen Hunsberger, a staff attorney at the Law Center for Immigrant Advocates, said one client complained of having to wait "six or seven hours to get clean water." It is "not sanitary and certainly not... in compliance with just basic human rights." Hunsberger, who spends hours on the road going from one center to another to locate her clients, says many have been denied access to legal counsel, a constitutional right in the United States. Both GEO and ICE have denied allegations of mistreatment at the detention centers. "Claims there is overcrowding or subprime conditions in ICE facilities are categorically FALSE," said Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. "All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers." - 'Strategy' - But some relatives of detainees tell a different story. Alejandra Morales, an American citizen, said her undocumented husband was detained incommunicado for five days in Los Angeles before being transferred to Adelanto. In the Los Angeles facility, "they don't even let them brush their teeth, they don't let them bathe, nothing. They have them all sleeping on the floor, in a cell, all together," she said. Hunsberger said that for detainees and their relatives, the treatment appears to be deliberate. "They're starting to feel that this is a strategy to wear people down, to have them in these inhumane conditions, and then pressure them to sign something where they could then agree to being deported," she said. pr/hg/ksb
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Major new travel warning issued for Aussies amid Thailand-Cambodia conflict
Australian travellers have been warned to exercise a 'high degree of caution' in Thailand 'due to security and safety risks' amid an escalating border conflict with Cambodia that has left at least 33 people dead. 'Due to the ongoing armed conflict … we now advise do not travel to areas within 50 kilometres of the Thailand-Cambodia land border throughout the provinces of Buriram, Si Saket, Sa Kaeo, Surin, Ubon Ratchathani, Chanthaburi and mainland Trat provinces,' the Australian government said in its latest Smartraveller advice. 'Armed conflict between Thai and Cambodian forces along the Thailand-Cambodia border has increased. This includes military strikes, violence and landmines. 'There are reports of casualties. Martial law has been declared in some districts in these provinces. 'There's an ongoing risk of terrorism in Thailand. Popular tourist areas may be the target of terrorist attacks anywhere across Thailand, including Bangkok and Phuket.' Tensions flared over long-contested ancient temple sites before fighting spread along the countries' rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice. Clashes, now in their third day, broke out Saturday in the countries' coastal regions where they meet on The Gulf of Thailand. 'Border crossing points along the Thailand-Cambodia border continue to be closed,' the Smartraveller warning read. US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was talking with the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand in a bid to end their border conflict that has left at least 33 people dead. 'Just spoke to the Prime Minister of Cambodia relative to stopping the War with Thailand,' Mr Trump, who is on a visit to Scotland, said in a post on his Truth Social network. 'I have just spoken to the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand, and it was a very good conversation,' he said soon after in a new post. 'Thailand, like Cambodia, wants to have an immediate Ceasefire, and PEACE. 'I am now going to relay that message back to the Prime Minister of Cambodia. After speaking to both Parties, Ceasefire, Peace, and Prosperity seems to be a natural. We will soon see!' 'I am trying to simplify a complex situation! Many people are being killed in this War, but it very much reminds me of the Conflict between Pakistan and India, which was brought to a successful halt.' Mr Trump also indicated he would not move forward on trade deals with either nation until fighting has stopped.
