The Gaza-Egypt border has opened allowing 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies into Gaza, at a Cairo peace summit, Arab leaders have condemned Israeli bombardment of Gaza, saying civilians should be shielded, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said they would not leave their land.
US pushes UN to back Israel self-defense, demand Iran stop arms to Hamas
By Michelle Nichols
The United States has proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution that says Israel has a right to defend itself and demands Iran stop exporting arms to “militias and terrorist groups”.
The draft text calls for the protection of civilians - including those who are trying to get to safety - notes that states must comply with international law when responding to “terrorist attacks”, and urges the “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.
It was not immediately clear if or when the United States planned to put the draft resolution to a vote. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, France or Britain.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.Credit: AP
The US vetoed a Brazilian-drafted text on Wednesday, calling for a pause in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, to allow aid access to Gaza.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield justified Wednesday’s veto by telling the council more time was needed for diplomacy on the ground as US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region and worked to free Hamas-held hostages.
The US draft text does not call for any pause in the fighting, but does call for all states to avoid violence spilling into other regions.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed, heavily armed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times since October 7 in the deadliest confrontations since they fought a month-long war in 2006.
Reuters
Thousands of Pro-Palestinians rally at State Library Victoria
By Najma Sambul
Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters holding Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs have descended on State Library Victoria chanting “Free Palestine” and “We are all Palestinians”, amid strong police presence.
People hugged and cried, holding placards and signs reading “Israel stop killing Palestinians now!” and “Tell Albo [sic] don’t support Israeli terror” and chanted “Allahu Akbar”, meaning God is great in Arabic.
Pro-Palestinian supporters rally at State Library Victoria.Credit: Najma Sambul
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said any racists and those holding anti-Semitic views to leave and never come back to a pro-Palestinian on protest.
A speaker addressing the crowd said, “We do not support our government’s stance to support with Israel unconditionally”.
Pro-Palestinian supporters rally at State Library Victoria. Credit: Najma Sambul
The crowd responded with chants of “shame, shame.”
Federal MP and Greens leader Adam Bandt said the war on Gaza was “collective punishment” and “a war crime”.
“Right now in Gaza there are over 2 million people predominantly children are being starved, dehydrated and bombed,” said Bandt.
“We mourn the 1400 Israelis who lost their lives but also the 4000 Palestinians who lost their lives.”
One protester Inas Mahboub, an Egyptian-Australian, came to the protest to show her support for Palestinians.
“I lived in Egypt and I can see how the media is not hearing the Palestinian side, especially in the West,” she said.
“The West needs to condemn the slaughtering Palestinians including women and children by Israel right now.”
“We need to see an immediate ceasefire and civilians should have to pay the price.”
The rally comes after thousands gathered at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday amid a heavy police presence.
It’s estimated up to 15,000 people attended the pro-Palestinian event, carrying Palestinian flags and placards with messages such as “Justice for Palestine”, “End the Gaza Blockade” and “It’s not war, it’s genocide”.
Italian Prime Minister calls to avoid ‘much wider conflict’
By Nicole Precel
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that the international community must avoid an escalation in the war and set a road map toward the two states’ solution.
Speaking at the Cairo international summit for peace, Meloni warned against the conflict in Gaza becoming a “much wider conflict, a religious war, a clash of civilisations”.
“I have the impression that this was the real aim of the Hamas attack, not to defend the rights of the Palestinian people, but an attack that would create an unbridgeable gap between the Palestinians and the Israelis, meaning that the target is all of us, and we cannot fall into this trap, which would be very stupid,” he said.
The Italian Prime Minister met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo to discuss the need to work hard for a de-escalation and for a two-state solution with a clear timeframe, referring to the idea of establishing two separate and independent states, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians.
“I hope that there is a responsibility on the part of the whole international community, and it seems to me that there is, to speed up this process and provide a structural solution to the conflict,” Meloni said.
Meloni then travelled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a post to X, Netanyahu said they had to “defeat this barbarism”.
“Hamas, I said in the UN ten years ago, almost a decade ago, Hamas is ISIS. People didn’t believe me. Now they know it’s actually worse than ISIS, as President Biden said, and Chancellor Scholz said that Hamas are the new Nazis,” he wrote on X.
Two Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike
By Nicole Precel
An Israeli aerial strike hit the Al Ansar Mosque in Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said.
It’s the second air strike to hit the West Bank in recent days. Israel Defense Force and Israeli Security Authority confirmed the aerial strike in a post on X.
“The IDF & ISA just conducted an aerial strike on Hams and Islamic Jihad terrorist compound int he Al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin,” it read.
The IDF claimed the Mosque was used as a command center to plan and execute terrorist attacks against civilians.
At least 84 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say.
The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said the strike hit an area near al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the territory.
On Thursday, Israel’s military said it raided and carried out an air strike in a refugee camp in the central city of Tulkarm. Palestinians said at least 12 were killed.
Reuters
Doctors without Borders: healthcare system in Gaza faces collapse
By Nicole Precel
Doctors Without Borders says Gaza’s healthcare system is facing collapse, with hospitals overwhelmed and lacking resources.
The global medical and humanitarian organisation wrote on social media on Saturday that it recently made a large donation of medical stock, including medicines, narcotics and medical equipment to Al Shifa hospital, the main surgical facility on the strip.
The group’s warning comes after Medhat Abbas, an official with the Gaza health ministry, said early Saturday that five hospitals had stopped functioning and two others were partly out of service.
A nurse with the aid group in Gaza, Loay Harb, said that when the supplies were delivered to the hospital, she and others “saw hundreds of people taking shelter and it was difficult to walk inside.”
The first 20-truck convoy of humanitarian aid that reached Gaza on Saturday was declared “far from enough” by UN agencies.
In a joint statement the World Health Organisation, the World Food Program and others said more than 1.6 million people were in need.
“Vulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,” the statement said.
with AP
The White House releases video of Biden speaking with freed US hostages
By Nicole Precel
US President Joe Biden has spoken with freed American hostages who were held by Hamas in Gaza.
The White House released a video of Biden speaking with mother Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, who were released on Saturday.
“I’m just delighted we’re able to get you out. We’ve been working on it a long time. We’re going to get them all out God willing,” Biden said.
“I hope you’re both not only feeling good but in good health as well.”
The pair had travelled to Israel from their home in Chicago to celebrate the Simchat Torah Jewish holiday.
They were kidnapped as Hamas launched its offensive in southern Israel on October 7.
The women, who were taken from Nahal Oz kibbutz, near the Gaza border, were taken to a military base in central Israel.
Birmingham: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should be designated a terrorist organisation
By Nicole Precel
Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham believes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces – should formally be designated as a terrorist organisation in Australia.
Speaking to Insiders host David Speers on ABC on Sunday morning, Birmingham said it was “evident that bad faith actors don’t get better with time”.
“Iran sadly has an even longer track record [than Hamas] in many ways of human rights abuses against its own people, of mobilising terrorist activities such as Hamas or Hezbollah – so we ought to be looking at the types of actions we ought to be taking,” he said.
Birmingham said Australia should be working “as comprehensively as we can” with other nations to ensure the sanctions regime was as tight as possible on Iran “to ensure we limit their capacity to spread evil, to spread terror and ultimately supporting the many brave Iranian people who have sought to see a change of regime in that country”.
Speers also asked Birmingham if he believed Israel was engaging in collective punishment of Palestinian citizens, as suggested by Industry Minister Ed Husic and Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly.
He said Israel has not.
Early Childhood Education Minister Dr Anne Aly and Minister for Industry Ed Husic during question time on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Israel is seeking to disable Hamas and its ability to operate as a terrorist threat. That is something we should continue to support, while of course wanting to see Israel operate in ways that protect innocent lives as much as possible.”
President of US synagogue stabbed to death
By Nicole Precel
The president of a Detroit synagogue was found stabbed to death on Saturday outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighbourhood, authorities and local media said.
Samantha Woll, 40, was an adviser to Democratic politicians and president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. Her death was confirmed by the synagogue on Facebook.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our Board President. At this point we do not have more information, but will share more when it becomes available. May her memory be a blessing,” the post states.
The Detroit Police Department confirmed the body of a woman was found in the 1300 block of Joliet Place in Detroit, where a trail of blood led to her home.
Police are investigating and there’s no assertion that the death was related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said in a post on X that she and her team were heartbroken.
“Sam worked for me from nearly the moment I became a Congresswoman, helping us set up the office and helping to lead it for my full first term,” she posted.
With Reuters
Melburnians to hold rally for Palestinians at midday
By Nicole Precel
Thousands are expected to attend a pro-Palestinian rally at the State Library of Victoria at midday.
Greens leader Adam Bandt is expected to speak at the Keep Fighting for Gaza: Free Palestine rally, organised by social justice group Free Palestine Melbourne, and call for an end to war on Gaza.
Vigils, forums and protests have been held across the country, including in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Hobart on Saturday.
An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people gathered for a peaceful rally at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday, carrying Palestinian flags and placards such as “Justice for Palestine” and “It’s not war, it’s genocide”.
More than 830 police watched as speakers expressed strong condemnation of Israel, but warned the crowd not to burn flags, set off flares or cover their faces.
NSW Premier Chris Minns pleaded for calm before the rally, saying a repeat of antisemitic protests in front of the Opera House this week would be ruinous for Sydney and its multicultural, multifaith community.
Palestine supporters gather during a protest at Town Hall on October 21, 2023 in Sydney, Australia.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin expressed concern about some of the messages chanted by demonstrators.
“Their calls for the ‘liberation’ of Palestine ‘from the river to the sea’ is an unambiguous call for Israel’s destruction and the support for a new intifada is a call for the murder of more civilians,” he said.
The Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network is also advertising events on October 25 at the National Press Club in Canberra and at Federation Square on October 27 in Melbourne.
With Andrew Taylor
Hezbollah says four fighters killed
Four fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah were killed along the border with Israel on Saturday, which the Iran-backed group says increases its member death toll to 17 during the two weeks of escalating violence in the region.
A security source in Lebanon said one of the fighters was killed in the Lebanese area of Hula, opposite the Israeli community of Margaliot, which Israel said was the target of an anti-tank missile attack. The Israeli army said it fired back.
Hezbollah, proscribed by Australia as a terrorist organisation, later said three other members were killed on Saturday, without providing details. Israel said its soldiers struck a cell attempting to launch anti-tank missiles toward the area of Shlomi, an Israeli town some 70km from Margaliot.
The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which also has a presence in southern Lebanon, separately said one of its members was killed in Saturday’s fighting.
Hezbollah and Israel’s military have been trading fire at the frontier almost daily since Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel retaliated with air strikes on Gaza.
Sources have previously said Hezbollah’s attacks were designed to keep Israel’s military occupied without provoking a major war, with Israel saying it had no interest in waging war.
But rising tensions have raised concerns about the risk of a wider conflict.
The borderlands around Lebanon’s Hula have seen several heavy exchanges of fire recently, prompting Israel this week to evacuate the nearby Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.
Israel and Hezbollah both reported exchanges of fire on other points along the frontier on Saturday, including around Lebanon’s Alma Al-Shaab and Israel’s Hanita, an area where Hezbollah said it fired guided missiles and Israel responded.
Reuters
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