Category Archives: Israel

Pro-Palestine rally and standing vigil going ahead in Sydney after protesters and police reach agreement

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Decision reached after police launched supreme court action to have events scheduled for Town Hall on 6 and 7 October ruled unlawful

Pro-Palestine organisers have claimed victory in court, after announcing that both a rally on 6 October and a standing vigil on 7 October will go ahead after a last-minute agreement with New South Wales police.

NSW police this week launched supreme court action to have both events deemed unlawful, citing concerns over expected crowd size and potential hazards including “planter boxes” at Town Hall.

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Gulf leaders support Palestine – but many would not mind seeing Israel challenge Iran

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The escalating Middle East conflict could create a dangerous vacuum – or an opportunity – for several states

The coincidental timing of an emergency meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in Doha with a visit to the same city by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, for talks with Qatar’s emir raises questions about how the Gulf states will react if Israel pushes ahead with its plan to use its recent military success not just to weaken Iran, but reorder the Middle East.

This Sunni coalition of six Gulf monarchs is not naturally well disposed to Iran or its Shia proxies, and only in 2016 labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. But they also oppose further Israeli escalation, and believe it is ultimately only Washington that has the means to restrain the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Israeli strikes kill six in central Beirut as blasts heard across Lebanon’s capital

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Strike on medical centre is the second attack on the centre of Lebanon’s capital this week and comes after the IDF suffered their deadliest day against Hezbollah since 8 October

Israeli strikes on a central Beirut medical centre have killed at least six people, after Israel’s military suffered its deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Residents in Beirut heard a missile flying above the city before hearing the sound of the explosion. Videos showed the floor of an apartment building burning. Residents living in nearby areas began to flee, driving away quickly in scooters and cars.

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After a fortnight of military triumph, what is Israel’s endgame?

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Hawks argue Tehran’s missile assault gives legitimacy to a direct attack on Iran – but would ‘wars and wars and wars’ guarantee greater security?

Israel is enjoying a moment of military and intelligence triumph. Over two weeks, it has killed an “archenemy” in his secret bunker, decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, blown up the militant group’s communications networks and parts of its arsenal and humbled its sponsor, Iran.

As its ground troops marched into Lebanon, Israel fended off a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack with backing from the US and other allies.

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Eight Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon

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Casualties during heavy fighting in border areas come days after Israel launched ground incursion

Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed and a number of others wounded in three exchanges with Hezbollah in heavy fighting inside Lebanon.

The largest group of soldiers, from the commando brigade and including an officer, was involved in a clash with Hezbollah in a village north of the Israeli border community of Misgav Am, while two other soldiers from the Golani brigade were killed in a separate incident.

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Gulf states call on international community to fulfil responsibilities in the region – as it happened

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Danish police said on Wednesday morning that they were investigating two blasts in the vicinity of Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen.

“No one has been injured, and we are carrying out initial investigations at the scene,” Copenhagen police said in a statement. They said a “possible connection” to the Israeli embassy, which is located in the area, was being investigated.

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US would not support Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, says Biden

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Top Israeli diplomat at UN warns his country’s retaliation for Iranian missile attack will be heavier than Tehran ‘could ever have imagined’

Joe Biden has said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites, as the US sought to temper Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday and contain a rapidly escalating regional conflict.

Biden’s comments came after the top Israeli diplomat at the UN warned his country’s retaliation for an Iranian salvo of nearly 200 ballistic missiles would be heavier than Tehran “could ever have imagined”.

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UK begins evacuating citizens from Lebanon as Israel’s offensive continues

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First charter flight has left Beirut, says David Lammy, with officials planning ‘sea and air’ rescues if situation worsens

The UK has laid on a charter flight to evacuate Britons from Lebanon and said it is ready to commission more for the 5,000 nationals and their dependants remaining in the country.

Beirut’s international airport remains open but ministers and officials are preparing contingency plans for sea and air rescues via Cyprus should the security situation in Lebanon deteriorate to the point at which commercial flights are stopped.

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West planned for months to repel long-range Iranian attack – but Israel did not need them

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Most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems

Quiet planning by the US, UK and other allies to help Israel repel an Iranian long-range attack have been going on for several months or more – but most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems.

The only reported military engagements in support of Israel were a dozen interceptors fired by two US warships in the eastern Mediterranean, while Jordan said its own air defence systems and air force were involved in targeting Iranian missiles.

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Hand grenades thrown near Israeli embassy in Copenhagen

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In separate incident, Swedish police launch investigation after shots fired at Israeli embassy in Stockholm

Police in Denmark and Sweden are investigating after hand grenades were thrown near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen and shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Three Swedish men were arrested in the Danish capital on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in two explosions near the Israeli embassy at 3.20am in the Copenhagen district of Hellerup.

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Israel vows to retaliate after Iran launches unprecedented missile attack

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Iran sends more than 180 ballistic missiles in dramatic escalation of conflict

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel in a dramatic intensification of a conflict that appeared to be escalating out of control.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”

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Iran calls missile attack on Israel ‘legal, rational and legitimate’

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High-risk assault reflects Iranian elite’s belief that restraint after assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was strategic mistake

Iran said its supreme leader made the decision to fire dozens of missiles into Israel as retaliation for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the recent killings of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, two of the main groups in Iran’s so-called axis of resistance.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the decision had been made by Ali Khamenei with the backing of the supreme national security council (SNSC) and the Iranian defence ministry.

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Biden reaffirms US support for Israel amid Iran’s missile attack

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President directed the military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults as US ‘fully supportive’ of ally

Joe Biden has reaffirmed US support for Israel after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, describing the barrage as “defeated and ineffective” and ordering the US military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults.

“The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to Israeli military capability and the US military,” the US president told reporters on Tuesday after Tehran launched an unprecedented salvo of 180 high-speed ballistic missiles.

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Stopping Iran’s attack would have forced Israel to use sophisticated – and expensive – defences

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Despite launching 180 ballistic missiles, Iran is likely to have wanted to keep most of its stock in case of a full-blown war with Israel

Iran’s decision to launch about 180 high-speed ballistic missiles at Israel indicates that Tehran sought to inflict serious damage in Tuesday’s night attack, unlike the well-telegraphed drone and missile attack in April.

Their sheer speed makes ballistic weapons challenging to intercept, but the initial reports of no fatalities within Israel and one in the West Bank would suggest despite the numbers of missiles launched it was a military failure, though some of the weapons or fragments appear to have struck the ground.

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Missile attack on Israel signals that widely feared regional conflict has ignited

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As forces of restraint in the Middle East weaken with every passing day, Israeli officials declare Iranian attack a declaration of war

The sight of missiles descending on Tel Aviv on Tuesday night was the clearest sign imaginable that the regional conflict so widely feared over the past year may finally have ignited.

This is the second Iranian aerial attack on Israel in less than six months, but last time there was several days’ notice; the much slower drones and cruise missiles arrived first, and the principal target was a military base in the underpopulated Negev desert.

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Six killed and 10 wounded in shooting and knife attack in Israeli city of Jaffa

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Two men reportedly opened fire and stabbed people on train and in nearby street before being shot dead

Six people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting and knife attack on the Israeli seaside city of Jaffa that occurred minutes before Iran launched a huge missile attack on Israel. Five of the wounded were described as being in a serious condition.

CCTV footage showed two men, reportedly armed with an assault rifle and a knife, dressed in black emerging from a train near the light-rail stop along Jerusalem Boulevard where they opened fire on passersby as well as on a second nearby street.

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Financial markets could still avoid panic amid oil price risk in Middle East crisis

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Oil prices rose by more than 4% as Israeli troops moved into Lebanon and Iran launched missiles on Israel

As Israeli troops moved into Lebanon and Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, the risk of a jump in oil prices that could trigger another global inflation shock appeared to be materialising.

Oil prices rose by more than 4% to about $75 a barrel on Tuesday.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters call NSW police attempt to block rally on 7 October ‘an attack on fundamental democratic rights’

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Exclusive: police will ask state supreme court to prevent the protests due to safety concerns as Palestine Action Group says it ‘unequivocally opposes’ move

The organisers behind the weekly pro-Palestine protests have criticised New South Wales Police for their decision to apply to the state’s supreme court to prevent two rallies from going ahead on 6 and 7 October.

Palestine Action Group (PAG) had informed police of the protests and submitted the required paperwork request, known as form 1, for both.

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Burke accuses Dutton of trying to ‘throw kerosene’ on public debate over Middle East

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Home affairs minister says he will cancel visas of people waving Hezbollah flags at rallies as experts point to nuanced community perspectives on group

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has accused Peter Dutton of seeking to “raise the temperature” of public debate over conflict in the Middle East, after protests on the weekend included some people holding the Hezbollah flag.

The opposition leader on Monday suggested parliament should be recalled to enact new anti-terror laws that would cover such actions, if it was not already illegal.

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Israeli military says it is carrying out ‘limited’ ground operation targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon

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IDF says it has launched raids on villages close to the border ‘that pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities’, as Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed 95 people in past 24 hours

The Israeli military has begun a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, it has said, as it continued shelling areas close to the border and carrying out airstrikes on the capital, Beirut.

“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] began limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement on X early on Tuesday.

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