This blog is now closed.
The UN Security Council scheduled the vote on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict for Wednesday morning.
The resolution initially condemned “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” on Israel as well as all violence against civilians, while calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver desperately needed aid to millions in Gaza.
Continue reading...Letter from Labour leader stresses his concern for international law and sympathy with the plight of the Palestinian people
Rishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first exchange with Keir Starmer since the party conferences.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
We were the victims of an inside job by someone, we believe, who over a long period of time was stealing from the museum and the museum put trust in.
There are lots of lessons to be learnt as a result of that, the member of staff has been dismissed by us. The objects have started to be recovered … We have changed our whistleblowing code, changed our policy on thefts … tightened up security on thefts.
If someone is entrusted by an organisation to look after something and they are the person removing those objects, that is hard for any organisation, and it was hard for the museum, where there is a trusting culture.
If that trust is completely abused and as I think will become clear in the coming months quite a lot of steps were taken to conceal that, it wasn’t just that things were taken, records were altered and the like, it’s hard to spot.
We are intending to put on display the objects we have recovered, there is a lot of public interest in these objects.
350 have now been recovered and titles have been transferred to us so we have the makings of a good exhibition that was not previously planned.
Continue reading...Sunak says British intelligence is working at pace to ‘get to the bottom’ of explosion at al-Ahli hospital
Rishi Sunak has urged MPs not to rush to judgment over the blast at a hospital in Gaza, as he was repeatedly urged by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, to remind Israel to respect international law.
Sunak said British intelligence was working at pace to analyse evidence and “to get to the bottom” of the explosion al-Ahli hospital, which was reported to have killed hundreds of civilians.
Continue reading...Several Arab states condemn Israel for explosion, which it blames on failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Israel is using media and diplomatic channels to try to convince leaders of Arab countries that Tuesday’s blast at a Gaza hospital was caused by a misfiring jihadist missile, after even its regional allies rushed to blame it for the explosion.
Tuesday’s explosion, which killed hundreds, was blamed by Palestinian officials on an Israeli airstrike. Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.
Continue reading...Hezbollah calls for ‘day of rage’ as both sides in war continue to trade blame for deadly explosion
Further furious rallies and protests are expected across the Middle East and north Africa on Wednesday after the blast at a Gaza hospital that left hundreds dead and injured.
Hamas has blamed Tuesday’s explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military says the hospital was hit by a rocket barrage launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied responsibility.
Continue reading...PM condemns ‘any indiscriminate attacks’ on civilians while Penny Wong says spread of conflict would compound ‘risks to Israel’s security’
Anthony Albanese has described the deaths of hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital as “deeply distressing” as the Australian government urged all parties to avoid an escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The prime minister on Wednesday condemned “any indiscriminate attacks” on civilians, while the foreign minister, Penny Wong, warned a wider regional conflict would cause even more civilian deaths.
Continue reading...US president tells Benjamin Netanyahu evidence suggests ‘the other team’ is responsible for Tuesday night explosion
Joe Biden has backed Israel’s stance on the devastating blast at a Gaza hospital during a one-day visit to Israel intended to mitigate the humanitarian impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict and prevent it escalating into a regional war.
In remarks to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president said the evidence he had seen suggested it was “the other team” that was responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night, which caused hundreds of casualties.
Continue reading...Health officials say blast killed hundreds as footage shows fire engulfing medical centre owned by Anglican church
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in a massive explosion at a crowded hospital in Gaza City, in the biggest single loss of life in the blockaded territory in all the five wars between Hamas and Israel since the militants took over the strip in 2007.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people were killed on Tuesday night in what it said was an Israeli airstrike on al-Ahli al-Arabi, also known as the Baptist hospital. A spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence put the number of killed at about 300.
Continue reading...Letter signed by 178 members of US’s most prestigious law faculties calls Israeli reaction to Hamas attack ‘a moral catastrophe’
Israel’s bombardment and intensifying blockade of Gaza in response to this month’s attack by Hamas has been condemned by 178 legal scholars from some of the US’s most prestigious law faculties in a letter to Joe Biden.
Sent on the eve of the US president’s highly sensitive trip to Israel, the letter calls the Israeli reaction “collective punishment” and “a moral catastrophe” and urges Biden to seek an immediate ceasefire.
Continue reading...Heads of MI5 and FBI say Jewish communities and other groups may face danger from lone actors, Iran or militants
The heads of MI5 and the FBI have issued an unprecedented joint warning that the threat of a domestic terrorist attack could rise as a result of the crisis in the Middle East.
The counter-terror chiefs said Jewish communities and organisations, as well as other groups, may face a heightened danger from lone actors, Hamas militants and Iran on British or US soil.
Continue reading...Albanese highlights ‘concerning’ Coalition voice rhetoric as Dutton targets PM over treaty and truth telling. Follow the day’s news live
‘We’re holding a thorough consultation process,’ Jacinta Allan says
Under the proposal, a government minister will appoint commissioners, though the Greens-chaired integrity and oversight committee will have the power to veto candidates.
A new parliamentary ethics committee
Improvements to mechanisms relating to public interest disclosures about MPs
Updates to the MP code of conduct
We’re holding a thorough consultation process to ensure we achieve the highest standards of conduct and integrity of MPs in all aspects of their work for Victorians.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can find all of our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war here.
Japan will provide $10 million in emergency aid for civilians in Gaza, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said on Tuesday.
Japan is the current president of the Group of 7 developed nations and Kamikawa said it was monitoring the situation in Gaza “with concern”, adding that Japan expects the situation to be calmed down as soon as possible.
Kamikawa said she was also making final preparations for talks with her Iranian counterpart.
More from that AP analysis now:
Continue reading...Forensic anthropologists say many of the 350 human remains they are examining may never be identified
On a table, a jumble of bones and fragments are laid out carefully, some grey, others charred black. A skeleton hangs at the side of the room for reference.
Three forensic anthropologists peer over them with the intent focus of professionals trying to solve the most tragic of puzzles. Their job is to identify some of the most badly damaged remains of victims of the Hamas massacres of 7 October.
Continue reading...Buses had been scheduled to take Palestinian Australians from Ramallah in West Bank to Jordan but they did not go ahead
Palestinian Australians in the West Bank who fear a surge in violence have raised concerns over the Australian government’s efforts to help them escape the region, after rescue buses to Jordan were cancelled.
With no airport in the West Bank, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) had scheduled buses to take Australian citizens from the Palestinian city of Ramallah over the border into Jordan, due to concerns about the ability of these dual nationals to access flights out of Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
Continue reading...Footage appears to show an injured 21-year-old Israeli woman who was abducted from Supernova festival
Hamas has released a video apparently showing an injured Israeli hostage, as a senior Hamas leader said the militant group “has what it needs” to free all Palestinians in Israel’s jails.
On Monday night, Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades, released for the first time footage of a hostage, who identifies herself as 21-year-old Mia Schem from Shoham, in central Israel.
Continue reading...At least 30 people reportedly arrested, with protestors accusing Israeli government of planning genocide
Leftwing US Jewish groups gathered outside the White House on Monday to urge the Biden administration to pressure Israel into dropping its plans for a military invasion of Gaza and instead declare an immediate ceasefire.
Accusing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of planning “genocide”, several hundred volunteers from campaign groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace chanted slogans, carried placards and sang ancient Jewish songs in protest of what they said was an immoral response to the deadly assault on 7 October by the Palestinian group Hamas that killed at least 1,400 Israelis.
Continue reading...Thirteen lawmakers call on Biden administration to facilitate de-escalation and send humanitarian aid into Gaza
A group of prominent progressive US lawmakers introduced a resolution on Monday calling for a ceasefire in the fast-escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas that has resulted in a death toll in the thousands, as fears grow that the war could spiral into a wider regional conflict.
The two-page resolution, brought by 13 Democratic members of Congress, urges the Biden administration to “immediately call for and facilitate de-escalation and a ceasefire to urgently end the current violence” as well as to “promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza”.
Continue reading...Hundreds feared dead or injured after Gaza hospital strike; Biden to meet regional leaders
Continue reading...Colombia’s president likens Israel’s actions to Nazis as Israel accuses Gustavo Petro of putting Jewish lives in danger
The Israel-Hamas war has sparked a ferocious diplomatic spat between Israel and Colombia, with Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, likening Israel’s actions to those of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis and Israel accusing Petro of putting Jewish lives in danger and encouraging “the horrific acts of Hamas terrorists” with his “hostile and antisemitic statements”.
The row began one day after Hamas’s unprecedented 7 October attacks when Petro used his official X account to denounce what he called “neo-Nazi” efforts to destroy the Palestinian people, freedom and culture.
Continue reading...Conflict highlights growing gulf with west, as other big developing powers face difficult diplomatic choices
China and Russia have hardened their positions towards the conflict in Gaza in recent days, as the war between Israel and Hamas aggravates existing geopolitical tensions and underscores the growing gulf between the cold war allies and western powers such as the US, UK and France.
The Chinese foreign minister said over the weekend that Israel’s bombing campaign had gone “beyond the scope of self-defence” and that it “should stop collective punishment of the people of Gaza”.
Continue reading...