Foreign Minister Penny Wong: ‘Aid needs to flow into Gaza'
It follows yesterday's march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with 100,000 people demonstrating in the pouring rain against Israel's actions in Gaza.
The Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks to Sarah Ferguson.
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Israel wants world attention on hostages held in Gaza
Israel said Monday the plight of hostages held in Gaza should top the global agenda, after Palestinian militants released videos showing them looking emaciated, heightening fears for their lives after nearly 22 months in captivity. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a press briefing ahead of the UN Security Council session on the issue, said that "the world must put an end to the phenomenon of kidnapping civilians. It must be front and centre on the world stage". Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing Gaza war, 49 are still held in the Palestinian territory, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The UN session was called after Palestinian militant group Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad published last week three videos showing hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing weak and emaciated, causing deep shock and distress in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under mounting international pressure to halt the war, said on Sunday he was "shocked" by the "horror videos of our precious sons". Netanyahu said he had asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which oversaw past hostage releases during short-lived truces, to provide food and medical treatment to the Israeli captives. Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was willing to allow Red Cross access to the hostages in exchange for permanent humanitarian access for food and medicine into all of Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned famine was unfolding. The ICRC said in a statement it was "appalled by the harrowing videos" and reiterated its "call to be granted access to the hostages". - 'Only through a deal' - Netanyahu's government has faced repeated accusations by relatives of hostages and other critics of not doing enough to rescue the captives. "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to ruin," said a campaign group representing families of the captives. In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that "for 22 months, the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back." "The truth must be said: expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages, who are already in immediate mortal danger." Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure an elusive truce. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to call on the government to secure the release of the remaining hostages. Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged US President Donald Trump to pressure their own government to end the war. "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. The war, nearing its 23rd month, "is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity," said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service, in a video released to accompany the letter. The letter argued that the Israeli military "has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas's military formations and governance." "The third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing all the hostages home," it added. - 'We are starving' - Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,933 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the UN. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire on Monday killed at least 15 Palestinians, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid from a site in central Gaza. In Gaza City, Umm Osama Imad was mourning a relative she said was killed while trying to reach an aid distribution point. "We are starving... He went to bring flour for his family," she said. "The flour is stained with blood. We don't want the flour anymore. Enough!" Further south, in Deir el-Balah, Palestinian man Abdullah Abu Musa told AFP his daughter and her family were killed in an Israeli strike. Decyring the attack on "young children", he said that "perhaps the world will wake up -- but it never will".
The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
US promises Gaza food plan after envoy visit
President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months. The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27 -- 105 of them in the last two days of July. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near GHF sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. Witkoff said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza, in an online post accompanied by a photograph of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a GHF distribution centre. The visit intended to give Trump "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza," Witkoff said. Trump echoed this in a phone call with US news site Axios touting a plan to "get people fed". "We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago," Trump said according to Axios. - 'Gunning them down' - The US president did not say whether his plan would involve reinforcing GHF or a whole new mechanism, the report said. The GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza just as Israel in late May began easing a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages. The foundation said it had delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza during the visit by Witkoff and US ambassador Mike Huckabee. Gaza's civil defence agency said 22 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid. In its report on the GHF centres, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of using starvation as a weapon of war. "Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families," said HRW's associate crisis and conflict director, Belkis Wille. "US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths." The Israeli military said in response that the GHF worked independently, but that troops operated near aid sites "to enable the orderly delivery of food" while trying to "minimise... any friction between the civilian population" and its forces. The military accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution, and said it was conducting a review of reported deaths. Witkoff on Thursday held talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized in the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack that triggered the war. But Netanyahu is under mounting international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and threatened many more with famine. - Hostage video - Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who warned that "the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination." Wadephul urged Israel "to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality". In an investigative report published on Friday, British public broadcaster the BBC said it had gathered accounts from witnesses, medics and other sources of more than 160 children shot in the war, including 95 hit in the head or chest, some by Israeli forces. Responding in a statement to AFP, the Israeli military said any "intentional harm to civilians, and especially to children, is strictly prohibited" by international law and the army's orders. Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. After Witkoff's Gaza visit, the armed wing of Hamas released a short online video showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David, looking emaciated and weak in a narrow concrete tunnel. burs-dc/ami
The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
Pro-Palestine march on Sydney Harbour Bridge to go ahead after week-long legal fight
The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be completely closed to traffic for at least four hours on Sunday, as thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators are expected to march across the landmark. Police and transport officials have urged people to avoid the CBD altogether and to limit non-essential travel, warning that there will be 'significant disruption' across roads and the public transport network. It comes after a NSW Supreme Court ruling not to block the march, with as many as 50,000 protesters anticipated to join in the protest. Police had sought to prohibit the rally, and NSW Premier Chris Minns had warned of 'chaos' if it was allowed to go ahead. The protest has been backed by many, including Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, but the court decision has been criticised by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin who said it had caused 'dismay'. Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees appeared in court arguing the protest should be protected. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper 'Significant impact' Transport for NSW Executive Director Operations Management Craig Moran urged motorists to avoid the eastern part of the city as the closures are set to cause 'significant impacts'. 'We will have to start closing the Harbour Bridge from around 11.30 tomorrow,' he said. 'We're hoping that we can get the bridge open by about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It may take a little bit longer.' Bus services will be terminating in the CBD on the south side of the bridge and North Sydney and St Leonards area on the north side. 'Trains will still be running across the Harbour Bridge during the course of the event, but with additional people in the city, particularly at the end of the march, getting on the rail systems, the rail will be very busy. 'If you can avoid non-essential travel, please do so because there will be flow on effects in various different areas.' Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said the police presence would be 'significant'. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper 'Have to scramble now' Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna said police respected the Supreme Court decision but urged participants to listen to police as they monitor the large crowd. 'People who come in to do the right thing and have a safe protest … we will work with them. But if people come in and commit any type of offences, anti-social behaviour, or anything else that puts the public safety at risk, we'll have no hesitation but to take action,' he said. Police will be drafted in from other areas, Mr McKenna said, adding that it takes a long time to organise such closures and 'we have to scramble now, there's no doubt about that'. He said: 'We've got to get the messaging out to the community who may have wanted to come into the city tomorrow, who will be inconvenienced by tomorrow, that these closures are occurring and there will be significant disruptions.' The Federal Court has approved the March for Humanity walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper 'Historic day' Speaking after the decsion, Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees said the decision was a 'huge victory for the Palestine movement in this country'. 'It means tomorrow we will be having an absolutely massive march for humanity over the Sydney Harbour Bridge,' he said. 'This is going to be a historic day.' The Palestine Action Group said the win is thanks to a 'tidal wave of support'. 'In the case of the people vs. Chris Minns, the people have won,' the group said in a statement. 'This victory belongs to all of us. We won because of the tidal wave of support. It is absolutely historic. We said we were unstoppable, and we are.' The Federal Court has approved the March for Humanity walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper 'Protected' More than 500 people tuned in to watch Justice Rigg give her judgment, in which she said: 'The fact the proposed assembly is likely to cause significant inconvenience to residents … is far from determinative. 'If matters such as this were to be determinative, no assembly involving inconvenience to others would be permitted.' The ruling means protesters will be protected from being charged with offences like obstructing traffic, however police retain their usual powers to address 'anti-social behaviour'. Justice Rigg said the organisers' certainty of the march proceeding means the Sydney Harbour Bridge would have to be closed for the protest, whether it was authorised or not. 'The evidence indicates there is significant support for the march,' she said. 'The march at this location is motivated by the belief that the horror and urgency of the situation in Gaza demands an urgent and extraordinary response from the people of the world.' The bridge will be shut for at least four hours on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer The court was told that when the initial plans for a protest were made, they estimated 10,000 people would take part, but that support for the march had grown with organisers claiming there could now be up to 50,000 participants. 'PAG (Palestine Action Group) has ensured that people's safety is a priority in terms of seeking and obtaining authorisation … There are 100 marshals organised for tomorrow's planned march, but this number can be increased,' the court was told. 'PAG believes in the power of numbers and has worked hard to try and build a mass peaceful protest movement, which embraces all who want to be part of it. 'Ground rules for protests are well established, including no racism of any kind, including anti-Semitism.' Police confirmed the behaviour of attendees at public assemblies has been 'largely peaceful', the court heard. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper 'Plenty of other places to protest' The court was told the Palestine Action Group had developed a constructive relationship with police and there had been compromises between both parties over time. 'I find important the extensive evidence of the high level of commitment and experience in the PAG to prosocial protest,' Justice Rigg said. 'I reject the submission … that if the court does not make the order they are condoning scenes of violence,' she said. The court was also told there have been more than 1000 assemblies in New South Wales since October 2023 in response to the conflict in Palestine and Israel. 'Assistant Commissioner (Adam) Johnson confirms … the behaviour of attendees at these public assemblies has been largely peaceful.' The court was told there have been 140 arrests, and incidents included the burning of an Israeli flag, a flare thrown at police, 'chants at a rally which were interpreted by some as anti-Semitic', and the alleged display of a prohibited terrorist symbol. Mr Ryvchin said the protest would 'paralyse the city'. He said: 'We take comfort knowing that the vast majority of Australians want no part of this. 'We continue to pray for the starved and tortured hostages still held in Gaza, whose fate is ignored or belittled by the protesters.' Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said there were 'plenty of other places to protest' aside from the Harbour Bridge. 'I respect the freedom to protest, including with rallies and marches, but allowing the takeover of the Harbour Bridge for a protest in the middle of the day sets the wrong precedent for the future,' he said. Former prime minister Tony Abbott warned of a 'slippery slope', arguing judges should not decide when political protest is justified. Writing on X, he said: 'It should not be for judges to decide when a political protest is justified. 'The decision to close the Sydney Harbour Bridge to facilitate this protest is a political decision and should be made by elected and accountable ministers – who as it happens, think the march should not go ahead. 'We are on a slippery slope when unelected judges start making political judgments.' A spokesperson for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said: 'Freedom of expression and assembly are sacrosanct elements of our democracy which must be treasured but we are concerned at the precedent the Court has set by allowing this protest to take place on the Harbour Bridge. 'At a time of strained social cohesion, an iconic Australian symbol and key arterial road should not be used to bring a divisive foreign conflict onto our streets.'
