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Key posts
- Palestinian general delegation expresses disappointment with Australia’s UN vote
- ‘They are not just numbers on paper’: Thousands rally in Sydney
- ICYMI: Netanyahu opens ‘second stage’ of war
- Expert warns Israel to consider humanitarian impact in Gaza
- ‘This is how we wrap our dead’: Why this woman is carrying a white bundle
- Hamas tunnels in Gaza Strip raises risks for an Israeli ground offensive
- ‘We must do better’: Palestinian supporters rally in Melbourne
- Israel says its war can both destroy Hamas and rescue hostages. Their families are less certain
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Israel strikes near Gaza’s largest hospital after accusing Hamas of using it as a base
Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip: Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes early Sunday near Gaza’s largest hospital, which is packed with patients and tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking shelter. Israel has said Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have a command post under the hospital, without providing much evidence.
The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in Israel’s war on Hamas, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel on October 7.
Palestinians carry an injured man out of the destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Friday.Credit: AP
Ground forces pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israel pounded the territory from air, land and sea.
The bombardment — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early Sunday, according to local telecoms companies, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
Residents said the latest airstrikes destroyed most of the roads leading to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which is part of the northern half of the besieged territory, which Israel has told people to evacuate. Israel says most residents have fled to the south, but hundreds of thousands remain in the north, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones. Tens of thousands are sheltering in Shifa, which is also packed with patients wounded in strikes.
“Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult,” Mahmoud al-Sawah, who is sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone. “It seems they want to cut off the area.” Another Gaza City resident, Abdallah Sayed, said the Israeli bombing over the past two days was “the most violent and intense” since the war started.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment when asked about reports of strikes near Shifa.
The army recently released computer-generated images showing what it said were Hamas installations in and around Shifa Hospital, as well as interrogations of captured Hamas fighters who might have been speaking under duress. Israel has made similar claims before, but has not substantiated them.
Little is known about Hamas’ tunnels and other infrastructure, and the claims could not be independently verified.
Hamas’ government dismissed the allegations as “lies” and said they were “a precursor for striking this facility.”
On Saturday, the Israeli military released grainy images showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, apparently near the border, and said warplanes had bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers.
The escalation ratcheted up domestic pressure on Israel’s government to secure the release of some 230 hostages seized in the Oct. 7 rampage, when Hamas fighters stormed from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns and gunned down civilians and soldiers.
Desperate family members met with Netanyahu on Saturday and expressed support for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, Yehia Sinwar, said the Palestinian militant groups “are ready immediately” to release all hostages if Israel releases all of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, dismissed the offer as “psychological terror.”
AP
Nothing would be lost by allowing people to leave, says former US official
A former US security co-ordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Mark Schwarz, has warned that an Israeli ground invasion could take months to complete operations.
Schwarz, a retired lieutenant general, told the BBC on Sunday (AEDT) that it would take months for the Israeli Defence Forces to clear above-ground structures, many of which have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, and that was before tackling the tunnel network in Gaza.
Palestinian supporters rally in Sydney on Sunday.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Schwarz joined calls from the US and the European Union to give time and a passage for the civilians trapped in Gaza to leave before continuing the invasion.
“I think [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu was trying to be very sobering to the public, the parents and the dependents of the IDF soldiers that are getting ready to take on this ground offensive,” Schwarz told CNN.
“We’ve seen significant loss of the life of the Palestinian populace as a result of the air campaign thus far.
“I believe it’s going to take weeks, if not, certainly months to effectively clear the structures above the surface let alone ‘The Metro’[tunnels] as it’s been characterised by the IDF; this has to be cleared as well as the tunnel substructures.”
Schwarz said he believed the IDF would lose no momentum by pausing and making a way for civilians to leave the area.
“They have the strategic advantage right now, but the area they don’t have the advantage is in the information space – you saw that earlier today across Europe and the Middle East. There are increasing protests passionately speaking to the innocent loss of the life, the casualties,” Schwarz told BBC.
“I don’t believe that anything will be lost by allowing people just the basic needs that every human deserves to have, to those who are caught in the middle of the conflict.”
Palestinian general delegation expresses disappointment with Australia’s UN vote
The Palestinian Authority’s representative in Australia has expressed its disappointment with Australia’s decision to abstain from voting for a UN general resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas.
Australia called the resolution incomplete because it did not recognise Hamas’ responsibility for the attack on Israel on October 7.
Representative body the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia has asked Australia to join the “moral majority” in a statement, which is now on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We call on Australia to support calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities and demands for immediate, continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services to civilians throughout Gaza,” the statement reads in part.
The full statement is below:
‘The most complex hostage environment I’ve seen’: O’Shea
Former Navy Seal commander Dan O’Shea has described the situation around more than 200 Israeli hostages as the most complex he has seen.
O’Shea, a hostage rescue and negotiation expert, told CNN he believed Israel’s decision to go “kinetic” would only make it harder for any hostage handover or rescue to be achieved.
A woman walks past soft teddy bears with their eyes covered to highlight the young children and babies currently missing, believed to be being held hostage, by Hamas.Credit: Getty Images
“Anytime you involve military operations, it complicates negotiations,” O’Shea told CNN.
“The whole reason these hostages were taken or leveraged was as bargaining chips and I’ve said that every day that Hamas has delayed the IDF offensive, which appears to be being undertaken now, was a victory for them.
“There comes a point that Israel had to make the decision to go in as their stated goal is to wipe out Hamas and that’s what we’re seeing right now.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say kinetic operations helps hostage negotiations. If anything, it certainly endangers the lives of everyone in Gaza, including the hostages.”
O’Shea added the overall complexity of the situation made things more difficult as did having so many countries and other groups involved in discussions.
“There’s nothing like the Gaza situation, you have Jordan plus 30 nations involved. This is the most complex hostage environment I’ve ever seen and I’ve been tracking this problem set for 20-plus years,” O’Shea told CNN.
“The hardest part for the families is that they don’t know, they’re held in suspense. Every moment is a concern for them and their number one priority is freeing their family members.
“The number one priority for the Israeli government is to wipe out Hamas and those two goals and aims are not necessarily always going to be aligned, unfortunately.”
First-timer joins Melbourne pro-Palestine rally
The large pro-Palestine march through Melbourne has wound down now.
Glen, who has attended the other two big rallies supporting Palestinians in the past fortnight, found himself at the pub sharing a beer with Dara, who was attending his first rally today draped in the Palestinian flag.
“If we don’t come out now when children are being bombed, we’re staying silent,” said Glen.
People at the pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Many at the rally spoke of their disappointment to see Australia abstain from a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Some spoke in trembling voices of family or friends in Gaza, most out of contact now a communications blackout has fallen on the enclave.
Here are some more pictures from our photographer Luis Enrique Ascui:
A protester holds the Palestinian flag aloft.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
A child attends the pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
‘They are not just numbers on paper’: Thousands rally in Sydney
Updated: Tens of thousands have gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park in support of a free Palestine and to condemn Australia and the world’s support for Israel amid the Middle East conflict.
Amid regular cries of “shame, shame Israel” and “shame, shame, USA”, the crowd’s loudest jeers came when speakers mentioned Australia’s recent decision to abstain from a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire.
People rally at a pro-Palestine protest in Hyde Park, Sydney on Sunday.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Rally organiser Josh Lees also singled out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for standing with US President Joe Biden this week as Biden cast doubt on the accuracy of Hamas’ statements on the number of casualties in Gaza.
Fatiha Doar, who was born in Palestine in 1948 prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, accused Israel of perpetrating a 75-year genocide against the Palestinian people.
A pro-Palestine protest at Hyde Park, Sydney on Sunday.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Several speakers drew comparisons between Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories to Australia’s colonisation of Aboriginal land, and led chants of: “From Gadigal to Gaza, long live the Intifada.”
Rally organiser Assala Sayara said more than 2000 Palestinians were killed in the past week.
“They are not just numbers on a paper. They are humans with dreams and hopes. They are not terrorists – they are native Palestinians who have a right to be on their land,” she said.
Internet, phone service gradually returns after vanishing for most of Gaza amid heavy bombardment
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip: Two days after cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for most of Gaza amid a heavy Israeli bombardment, the crowded enclave was coming back online Sunday as communications systems were gradually being restored.
That’s a welcome development for Gaza following a communications blackout that began late Friday as Israel expanded ground operations and launched intense airstrikes that illuminated the night sky with furious orange flashes.
A man in a wheelchair outside a building damaged by Israeli air raids.Credit: Getty Images
A rare few Palestinians with international SIM cards or satellite phones took it upon themselves to get the news out.
By Sunday morning, though, phone and internet communications had been restored to many people in Gaza, according to telecommunications providers in the area, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
After weeks of a total Israeli siege, Palestinians in Gaza felt the vise tightening. Social media had been a lifeline for Palestinians desperate to get news and to share their terrifying plight with the world.
Now even that was gone. Many were consumed with hopelessness and fear as the Israeli military announced a new stage in its war, launched in a response to a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, and troops crossed into Gaza.
Exhausted and afraid her link to the world was so tenuous it could drop at any moment, 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary said the massive airstrikes that shook the ground exceeded anything she had experienced over the past three weeks or any of the four previous Israel-Hamas wars.
“It was crazy,” she said.
Residents on Saturday darted across dilapidated neighbourhoods under heavy bombardment to check on loved ones. Medics chased the thunder of artillery and bombs because they couldn’t receive distress calls.
Survivors pulled the dead from the rubble with bare hands and loaded them into cars and donkey-drawn carts.
“It’s a catastrophe,” said Anas al-Sharif, a freelance journalist. “Entire families remain under the rubble.”
Reached by WhatsApp, freelance photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra in northern Gaza said panic and confusion surrounded him.
“It’s barely possible to send this message,” he said. “All I want to convey is that the international community must intervene and save the people of Gaza from death immediately.”
Local journalists posting daily on social media scavenged the 360-square-kilometer (140-square-mile) territory to find even a spotty connection.
Some moved closer to the southern border with Egypt, hoping to pick up that country’s network. Others had foreign SIM cards and special routers that connected to Israel’s network.
AP
ICYMI: Netanyahu opens ‘second stage’ of war
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation Saturday night that the military has opened a “second stage” in the war against Hamas by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea.
Casting the war as a fight for his country’s very survival, he warned that the assault would only intensify ahead of a broad ground invasion into the territory.
Benjamin Netanyahu at a weekend press conference.Credit: AP
“There are moments in which a nation faces two possibilities: to do or die,” Netanyahu said.
“We now face that test and I have no doubt how it will end: We will be the victors. We will do and we will be the victors.”
The bombardment — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday and largely cut off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early Sunday, according to the telecoms company, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
Highlighting the ongoing attacks, the Israeli military released grainy images showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, many apparently near the border, and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. The underground sites are a key target in Israel’s campaign to crush the territory’s ruling group after its bloody incursion into Israel three weeks ago.
The escalation ratcheted up domestic pressure on Israel’s government to secure the release of dozens of hostages seized in the October 7 rampage by Hamas, when militants stormed from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns and gunned down civilians and soldiers. The unprecedented attack during a major Jewish holiday initiated a war between Israel and Hamas that could spread into a broader Mideast conflict.
Desperate family members met with Netanyahu on Saturday and expressed support for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, a swap floated by the top Hamas leader in Gaza.
Netanyahu told the nationally televised news conference that Israel is determined to bring back all the hostages, and maintained that the expanding ground operation “will help us in this mission.”
He said he couldn’t reveal everything that is being done due to the sensitivity and secrecy of the efforts.
“This is the second stage of the war, whose objectives are clear: to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home,” he said in his first time taking questions from journalists since the war began.
He didn’t address calls for a cease-fire, but in a speech peppered with references to centuries of Jewish history and military conflicts, made clear his view that Israel’s future depends on its success against “enemy” forces.
“Our heroic soldiers have one supreme goal: to destroy the murderous enemy and ensure our existence in our land. We have always said, ‘Never again,’” he said. “‘Never again’ is now.”
Netanyahu also acknowledged that the October 7 “debacle,” in which more than 1,400 people were killed, would need a thorough investigation, adding that “everyone will have to answer questions, including me.”
AP
Expert warns Israel to consider humanitarian impact in Gaza
Griffith Asia Institute visiting fellow Peter Layton has warned the post-war humanitarian cost will be “significant”, especially in Gaza.
Layton told CNN on Sunday AEDT that he feared the Israeli bombing campaign and any subsequent ground invasion was going to leave a large cost for those displaced, injured and killed.
People search through buildings that were destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on October 28.Credit: Getty Images
“Clearly at the present time, they just want to kill, injure and capture as many Hamas fighters as possible,” Layton told CNN.
“So these incursions have another advantage here that they do draw out forces and reveal Hamas forces so they can use their firepower and break them.
“The problem is, as you said this being the invasion, the ground incursions need to be undertaken with an eye on the future and an eye on the peace after this particular war.
“At the moment, the Israelis are destroying a lot of Gaza City and North Gaza. We’ll see about a million homeless or displaced people. That’s a lot of people.
“The humanitarian burden after the war will be significant. And it doesn’t seem that that that the Israeli campaign is being waged with that in mind.”
‘This is how we wrap our dead’: Why this woman is carrying a white bundle
As some 10,000 people marched through Melbourne’s CBD today to support Palestinians trapped in Gaza under Israeli bombardment, Ferdos Elsabaa stood still clutching a white bundle to her chest.
“This is how we wrap our dead and this represents all the children dying in Gaza.”
Ferdos Elsabaa carries a white bundle to signify a dead child during a free Palestine rally on Sunday.Credit: Sherryn Groch
She said she had lost contact with many Palestians back in Gaza as a digital blackout further shut down remaining medical aid in the densely populated enclave.
“Some of them are Australians, doctors, journalists. I will keep coming [to protest] while this is happening. It’s horrific.”
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