Albanese leaves door open to cutting support for Israel Andrew Tillett Foreign affairs, defence correspondent Apr 8, 2024 https://www.afr.com/world/middle-ea...to-cutting-support-for-israel-20240408-p5fi2s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has left open the prospect of cutting military-related exports to Israel following the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, tying it to the findings of the government’s newly appointed special adviser. On Monday, the government named former Defence Force chief Mark Binskin as its special adviser on Israel’s investigation into the death of Ms Frankcom and six colleagues in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Former Defence Force chief Mark Binskin is Australia’s special adviser on Israel’s investigation into the death of aid worker Zomi Frankcom. Alex Ellinghausen Mr Binskin will liaise with the Israeli military and provide advice to Canberra on the investigation of the incident, measures taken to hold those responsible to account and whether a further probe is warranted. He will also advise on the Israel Defence Forces’ policies and procedures for operational incidents and preventive measures for these. Israel’s investigation, released late on Friday, found the airstrike was a mistake. The government has fired two officers from their positions and reprimanded three senior commanders. “The information that Israel has provided so far on its investigation hasn’t yet satisfied our expectations,” Mr Albanese told the ABC. “Obviously it is a difficult circumstance given the conflict that is ongoing in Gaza, but we want him to have full access and we expect that from the Israeli government and the Israeli Defence Force.” UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said over the weekend that Britain would halt arms sales to Israel if it was found to be breaching international law, but it had not passed that threshold yet. Although the Albanese government maintains that Australia has not provided weapons to Israel for at least five years, Canberra has approved at least 322 permits for undisclosed military and dual-use goods to be exported to Israel since 2017. Pro-Palestinian advocates have also targeted Australian defence companies that supply components to Israel, such as the F-35 fighter jet, and Australia has contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with Israeli defence contractors. Asked whether he would consider withdrawing Australian support in any form, Mr Albanese replied: “We’ll await Air Chief Marshal Binskin’s report to us”, but he reiterated that Australia did not send arms to Israel at present. Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson welcomed Mr Binskin’s appointment but said the government was holding Israel to a higher standard, pointing out that an Australian woman, Galit Carboni, was killed in her home in a kibbutz during the October 7 terror attack. “The Albanese government’s response to her death was not anywhere near as strong as it’s been to Zomi Frankcom’s death,” he said. “Where were the calls for Hamas to investigate this? Where were the calls for Hamas to sack people? I think a double standard has been introduced here, and I think only the government can explain that.” Mr Binskin, a former fighter pilot, was defence force chief between 2014 and 2018, and also led the royal commission into the 2019-20 “Black Summer” bushfires.
Political posturing to placate the sheeple. Nothing will come of it as Australia has always been the lapdog to American whims. We'll suck up to Biden as usual. We suck up to everything American in Australia, but we're not quite as nutty as you blokes when it comes to freaking churches, bible and Jesus. I'm surprised we all don't own Chevs and Buicks and drive on the rhs of the road and talk to 'Mom'. Australia is also catching on to waving our flag around everywhere - just like you guys do. The only thing Australia does better than ANYONE is we know how to dig holes. No one, just no one can beat us. We dig them bigger, deeper, faster, safer and more of them than anyone. One day we'll dig a hole so deep we'll end up saying "hello" to China.
With UNRWA still blocked, aid groups ask who will deliver aid to north Gaza Sean Carroll, the president and CEO of Anera, the American Near East Refugee Aid organisation, has told Al Jazeera that the aid group is still “extremely nervous” about resuming aid deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip. “We’re not satisfied with the findings of the investigation on the World Central Kitchen killings,” Carroll said, adding that the organisation wants to “see the evidence” of Israel’s claims the strikes were a mistake. “World Central Kitchen, Anera and at least two other international NGOs have paused our work until we get more assurances that humanitarian aid workers are welcome,” said Carroll. Carroll welcomed the news that aid trucks had entered the Gaza Strip but said “the real issue is who’s going to deliver it”. “UNRWA is blocked,” said Carroll, noting that Israel still won’t allow the UN agency, which is the largest humanitarian provider in the Gaza Strip, to reach the north.
The son of Hamas' co-founder explains to Hamas supporters exactly what they are. Antisemitism Exposed Hamas defector tells pro-Palestinian activists they belong in 'a mental asylum' in brutal debate 'Pro-Palestine people need to go to a mental asylum,' says Hamas defector Mosab Hassan Yousef https://www.foxnews.com/media/hamas...ey-belong-in-a-mental-asylum-in-brutal-debate Pro-Palestinian activists were left seemingly dumbfounded after Dr. Phil brought a former Hamas member on his show to dismantle their arguments. One student tried to accuse the former Hamas member, who originally hails from Ramallah, of peddling "colonial rhetoric." "Dr. Phil Primetime" invited Palestinian activists — Salma and Zaynab from the University of Michigan — to debate the issues with Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Palestinian ex-militant who defected to Israel in 1997. Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, worked as an undercover agent for the Jewish state's Shin Bet intelligence wing. "It's very disappointing to see Americans supporting Hamas and thinking that Hamas is a cool thing, while Hamas does not respect any of those followers, while those followers don't know that Hamas would torture them and massacre them with no mercy. They call them useful idiots. They don't know that Hamas is a dark black hole," Yousef said on an April 2 episode of "Dr. Phil Primetime." "[Pro-Palestinians are] absolutely idiots because they don't know what they are supporting. They are supporting a monster that has been hijacking an entire society and endangering the entire Middle East, pushing the world towards a global war. … What's happening is insanity. Those pro-Palestine people need to go to a mental asylum." Yousef, also known as "The Green Prince" from his work with Israeli intelligence, said he based his knowledge in the time he spent with Hamas leaders and members from different districts in prison. "I was born there, and part of that culture, part of that religion. … That's why I described it as a black hole. Some people hear about Hamas, or they see an avatar of a Hamas fighter carrying a rifle, a freedom fighter, and they think it's a fancy idea to support such a monster," he said. Yousef said the activists were wearing the keffiyeh, a black and white neckerchief, to distract from the fact that they had no legitimacy to speak on behalf of the cause. "You don't know what Palestine is, actually. In fact, the keffiyeh that you are wearing is just a statement to show that you really lack the authenticity to represent the case," he said. Yousef continued, "On what authority do you speak? You only speak on the authority of Hamas propaganda." Zaynab interjected, asking why he believed she was speaking Hamas talking points. He said, "Because if you were a decent human being, you can say that the thousands who were killed on Oct. 7, that was a crime against humanity. It was a genocide." Yousef also accused the pro-Palestinian activists of being complicit in Hamas' crimes because they are part of a movement in the West providing ideological cover for the terror group and advancing its talking points. "We have the problem with the pro-Palestine [people], who are actually giving Hamas cover. They are participants in the crime," he said. "The cause must die. I think enough is enough, and now it's proven, and you are helping Hamas to prove it to the world — that Palestine depends on the destruction of the state of Israel. And this is not acceptable, and we are not going to agree to it, and I tell you something: For the next 10 or 20 years, the Palestinian people will pay the bill that Hamas has caused today and most likely in blood." Dr. Phil asked Salma and Zaynab to condemn the Oct. 7 terror attacks and noted how they dodged the question. "There are some things that are just fundamental human decency, and when I ask you if what happened on Oct. 7 is something you condemn, and you say, ‘Well, you have to look at that by looking at hundreds of years of conflict.’ No, you don't. That's either right or it's wrong, and it was wrong, and I don't need a hundred years of conflict to know it was wrong," Dr. Phil said. The Hamas defector said he no longer sees a difference between Palestinians and Hamas. "In fact, since Oct. 7, I personally don't differentiate between Hamas and the so-called Palestinians because, actually, there is no Palestinians, there are tribes. There is a tribe of Hamas, and there is the tribe of the Islamic Jihad … and each one has different interests, and all of them are conflicted," he said. "If they did not have Israel as the common enemy, they would kill each other. This is the reality." Zaynab, after accusing the former Hamas member of peddling "common colonial rhetoric," asked, "You think Hamas and Palestinian are the same?" "After Oct. 7? Yes. There is no difference. The vast majority of the Palestinian people support Hamas. This is a fact. This is proven by statistics, and your silence now — you are not even — you cannot even condemn Hamas and say that what they did on Oct. 7 was an act of a savage group," he said. A poll on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank in December indicated support for Hamas skyrocketed after the Oct. 7 attacks, according to a December report in the Associated Press. According to the Shikaki poll, 44% of Palestinians in the West Bank said they supported Hamas, up from 12% in September. In Gaza, the terrorist group had 42% support, up from 38% three months prior. According to a December poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe Hamas was correct in launching the October attack. Only 10% said they believed Hamas committed war crimes.
Let's hope that some progress is made towards a ceasefire. This is your daily reminder that Hamas is solely responsible for blocking any type of internationally-brokered agreement. U.S. delivers new proposal for Israel-Hamas hostage and ceasefire deal https://www.axios.com/2024/04/08/us-israel-hamas-hostage-deal-propose-ceasefire CIA Director Bill Burns presented in Cairo on Sunday a new proposal to advance a deal between Israel and Hamas that would secure the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in return for a six-week ceasefire, three Israeli officials tell Axios Why it matters: It would be the longest pause in fighting in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks and come under mounting international pressure for a ceasefire. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The deal would also include the release of at least 700 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 100 who are serving life sentences for killing Israelis. Driving the news: CIA director Bill Burns met in Cairo on Sunday with the head of Israel's Mossad, the prime minister of Qatar and the Egyptian spy chief in an effort to break the deadlock in negotiations. A senior Hamas delegation was also in Cairo at the same time and held separate meetings with the Egyptian and Qatari mediators. A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry called the meetings in Cairo "encouraging." Behind the scenes: The Israeli officials said Burns laid out a proposal that builds on terms discussed during previous negotiations in March. It asks additional for compromises from both parties, an Israeli official said Hamas would have to compromise on the number and identity of the prisoners they want released, and to deliver a list of 40 Israeli hostages who are alive thatthey can release in return. Israel would have to make compromises on the return of displaced Palestinian civilians to the northern Gaza Strip. What they're saying: "The pressure from the U.S. has been instrumental. I can't go into the details of the proposal but I can say it bridges the gap in a way the hasn't been done in the last couple of months," al-Ansari said. White House spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that a proposal had been presented to Hamas in Cairo. "We are waiting for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's response. It could take a few days," Kirby said. The CIA didn't respond to a request for comment. Zoom in: The issue of the return of Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza has been a main point of contention in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Hamas demands the full return of Palestinian civilians to the northern Gaza Strip and a full Israeli withdrawal from the land corridor that separates the southern Gaza Strip from the northern Gaza Strip and prevents the movement of people between the two. Israel has said it would agree to the "gradual return" of Palestinian civilians to the northern Gaza Strip, but opposes the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the corridor. It also says it people would only be allowed to return to northern Gaza if they pass an inspection to make sure they aren't members of Hamas. One Israeli official told Axios Israeli had agreed in Cairo to an additional unspecified compromise on the return of Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza. What to watch: The Israeli security cabinet is expected to convene on Tuesday to discuss the new proposal. The Hamas delegation left Cairo on Sunday night for consultations with other Hamas officials in Doha, according to a statement issued Sunday by the group. The proposal is being discussed internally with Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, a process that could take a few days, according to senior Israeli officials. A Hamas source told al-Jazeera on Monday that Israel is still making a deal difficult by not agreeing to a sustainable ceasefire and to a full pullout of its forces from Gaza. The source told al-Jazeera Israel agrees to allow Palestinian civilians who were displaced to go to refugee camps in northern Gaza and not to their homes. "We are waiting for the reply from both sides," the Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said. "If you ask me if I'm more optimistic today than I was a couple of days ago, I would say yes."
As expected Hamas rejected the ceasefire agreement. Well in that case, it is time to getting back to killing their leadership again. Hamas emergency committee leader killed in central Gaza airstrike hours after ceasefire rejected Top Hamas commander Hatem Alramery responsible for multiple rocket launches from central Gaza was assassinated by a targeted strike from Israeli Air Force jets on Monday https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/hamas-emergency-committee-leader-killed-32544181
Biden: Israel’s Netanyahu making ‘mistake’ on Gaza In strongest criticism yet, Biden takes issue with Israel’s approach but not its devastating war on Gaza. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/10/biden-israels-netanyahu-making-mistake-on-gaza United States President Joe Biden has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making a “mistake” in his handling of the Gaza war and its repercussions inside Israel and internationally. “I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Univision, a US-based, Spanish-language television network, in an interview that aired late on Tuesday when asked whether Netanyahu was putting his own political survival before national interests. LMAO, duck shovelling, blame shifting POS!