Media Report 15.4.2025

FPM Media Report 15.4.2025
WHO says child dies after Israel strike hits Gaza hospital
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/gaza-hospital-hit-as-israel-intensifies-assault/news-story/c0602080d495e74c06bafd9877e41324

AFP
An Israeli air strike Sunday hit one of Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, resulting in the death of a child according to the World Health Organization, as Israel warned it would expand its offensive if Hamas does not release hostages.
Since the outbreak of war, tens of thousands of Gazans have sought refuge in hospitals, many of which have suffered severe damage in the ongoing hostilities.
“A child died due to disruption of care” at the Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza after a strike, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“The emergency room, laboratory, emergency room X-ray machines and the pharmacy were destroyed,” he added. “The hospital was forced to move 50 patients to other hospitals. 40 critical patients couldn’t be moved.”
The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas “command and control centre” at the hospital, a claim the Palestinian group denied.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strike came “minutes after the (Israeli) army’s warning to evacuate”.
Israel’s foreign ministry said there was “no medical activity taking place” in the hospital building hit by a “precise strike”.
“There were no civilian casualties as a result of the strike,” it added on X.
AFP photographs showed massive slabs of concrete and twisted metal scattered across the site after the strike.
The blast left a gaping hole in one of the hospital’s buildings, with iron doors torn from their hinges.
Another air strike Sunday on a vehicle in the city of Deir el-Balah killed seven people including six brothers, the civil defence agency said.
– Patients on streets –
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated Sunday that the military would expand its offensive if Hamas “persists in its refusal” to free the remaining hostages.
“Gaza will become smaller and more isolated, and more of its residents will be forced to evacuate from the combat zones,” he said, adding that hundreds of thousands had already evacuated.
Patients, relatives and medical personnel found themselves stranded in the streets after the strike on Al-Ahli hospital.
Naela Imad, 42, had been sheltering at the hospital but had to rush out of the complex.
“Just as we reached the hospital gate, they bombed it. It was a massive explosion,” she told AFP.
“Now, me and my children are out on the street… The hospital was our last refuge.”
Hamas condemned what it described as a “savage crime” committed by Israel.
Qatar, which helped mediate a fragile ceasefire between the warring parties that fell apart last month, denounced it as “a heinous crime”, as did Saudi Arabia.
Also on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for advocating a Palestinian state.
“President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land — a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Macron, in an interview to France 5 this week, stated that France could take the step at a UN conference in New York in June, saying he hoped this would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries.
– Hospitals targeted –
Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Al-Ahli was heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, 2023 that caused multiple fatalities.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel on Sunday to halt the “deplorable attacks” on hospitals.
Last month, Israeli forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza, killing 15 medics and rescuers in an attack that sparked international condemnation.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Sunday that a medic who had been missing since the attack, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was “being held by Israeli authorities”.
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 1,574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944.
The ceasefire had largely put a halt to the fighting in Gaza for two months, but Israel restarted intense strikes in mid-March, with Palestinian militants resuming rocket fire from the territory days later.
The Israeli military said Sunday that it intercepted a projectile launched from Gaza. Later on Sunday, it said it had also intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, said they had fired two ballistic missiles on Israel, including one that targeted Ben Gurion airport.

Election 2025: Greens in bed with anti-Israel protesters
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/election-2025-greens-in-bed-with-antiisrael-protesters/news-story/64d70e3beb058e8916b0940d915e7459

Noah Yim
Ethan Floyd is a Senate candidate for the Greens. He was a leader in the University of Sydney encampment protest in 2024. Picture: Instagram
Ethan Floyd is a Senate candidate for the Greens. He was a leader in the University of Sydney encampment protest in 2024. Picture: Instagram
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A University of Sydney pro-Palestine encampment leader has been selected by the Greens to run for the Senate as the minor party seeks to take advantage of figures who came to prominence during anti-Israel protests over the past 18 months.
Ethan Floyd has been selected in fifth position for the NSW Greens’ Senate ticket. Mr Floyd was a leader of one of the main factions in the encampment that was pitched on campus for almost two months in the first half of 2024 and was a frequent figure at the weekly pro-Palestine protests in Sydney’s CBD.
He is one among a number of Greens candidates running on personal profiles boosted by the wave of pro-Palestine protests since the October 7 terrorist ­attacks in Israel.
Pro-Palestinian writer Omar Sakr has also been selected to run for the Greens in the western Sydney electorate of Blaxland, seeking to unseat Labor Education Minister Jason Clare.
Mr Sakr has previously drawn attention for inflammatory social media comments, including a post in 2024 in which he said the “overwhelming majority of ­Israelis are genocidal racist scum”.
Rhonda Garad, an academic at Monash University and Greens candidate for Bruce in Victoria, has previously said on social media that Israel’s treatment of the Gaza Strip was “straight out of (Hitler’s) playbook” and that Hamas’ terrorist attack “needs to be viewed with the broader context”.
The University of Sydney ­encampment was rocked by allegations of anti-Semitism and revelations that extreme Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir was implicated with the Muslim students faction of the encampment.
Mr Floyd, when contacted for comment, declined to answer questions about his thoughts on the involvement of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the encampment and about the role he thought his leadership in the encampment played in his selection, instead directing questions to the state branch.
Mr Floyd, who identifies as an Indigenous Australian, said he chose to run for the Senate ­because “conditions for ordinary people have got to improve”.

“Communities have to be ­empowered to do that themselves, and we can’t rely on billionaires and the political class to do it for us,” he said.
The NSW Greens did not ­respond to questions about Hizb ut-Tahrir and a spokeswoman instead said: “Ethan is a strong voice for action on the issues students care about, from unlimited rent increases, soaring student debt, and an end to the genocide in ­Palestine.” The Greens’ Blaxland candidate, Mr Sakr, has previously made inflammatory statements online, including that “the overwhelming majority of Israelis are genocidal racist scum who approve of the mass starvation of 2 million people”.
“I don’t give a damn what they think is viable, or what they think at all. Boycott, divest from, and sanction this sick apartheid state.”
On another occasion, he claimed that by inverting the logic of some Israeli officials, it was “really ­clarifying for everyone that the Hamas attack on Oct 7th was justified”.
“As you can see here, and from the comments of various Israeli officials and politicians, ‘there’s no such thing as uninvolved ­civilians’.”
He also said he did not care if he was labelled “anti-Semitic”.
“I do care about not inhabiting or performing such,” he said. “Zionism actively fosters anti-Semitism to try and make their murder colony palatable to fearful Jews, and while calling out their bullshit, we need to be clear that militant white supremacy is also on the rise.”
Ms Garad, head of education and research translation at ­Monash University’s centre for health research and implementation, has been selected to run as the Greens candidate for Bruce in southeast Melbourne, currently held by Labor’s Julian Hill.
In 2024, responding to a post on X that the “response from ­Israel is not proportional” but that “what Hamas has done is ­deplorable”, Dr Garad responded: “What Hamas has done needs to be viewed with the broader context.”
In another post, she said: “Just watched this doco on Hitler and it seems Palestinian genocide straight out of his playbook.”
The Greens have also selected Remah Naji – an organiser for the Justice for Palestine protest group in Queensland – to run in Moreton, and Avery Barnett-Dacey to run in Bendigo, where she was an organiser for a pro-Palestine ­protest group.
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Macron urges ‘reform’ of Palestinian Authority to run Gaza without Hamas
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/macron-urges-reform-of-palestinian-authority-to-run-gaza-without-hamas/news-story/45356b14f64b0c05060ee0e8644c9d7e

French President Emmanuel Macron Monday urged “reform” of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan for the West Bank-based body to govern a post-war Gaza without the Islamist movement Hamas.
France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule if a ceasefire deal is reached to end the war with Israel.
Israel resumed its deadly air strikes in Gaza on March 18 after cutting off aid to the Palestinian coastal territory, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
Macron called his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas on Monday after last week announcing France could take the unprecedented step of recognising a Palestinian state in coming months, sparking ire from Israel.
“France is fully mobilised to obtain the return of all hostages, the return of a lasting ceasefire and immediate access for humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Macron said on X after the phone call.
“It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
“This should allow progress towards a two-state political solution, with a view to the peace conference in June, in the service of peace and security for all.”
Macron has said France could recognise a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas and Macron had “emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire, the acceleration of humanitarian aid delivery, the rejection of the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land”.
France has thrown its support behind a plan put forward by Arab nations, including Jordan, to rebuild Gaza without evicting its 2.4 million Palestinian residents.
The Arab League-endorsed plan was put forward to counter a US proposal to send the war-ravaged territory’s inhabitants elsewhere.
– ‘Screw you’ –
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized control from the Palestinian Authority after being blocked from exercising real power despite winning a parliamentary election the previous year.
Both France and the United States under Joe Biden have pressed for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, to root out corruption and bring in new faces in the hope it could take charge of Gaza.
The Ramallah-based administration, led by 89-year-old Abbas, has been hamstrung by Israel’s decades-old occupation of the West Bank and the Palestinian president’s own unpopularity.
Paris has long championed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would see both a Palestinian and Israeli state live peacefully side by side.
A formal recognition of a Palestinian state would, however, mark a major policy switch and risk antagonising Israel, which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.
But Macron late Monday reaffirmed his stance, saying he hoped French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage others to do the same, and that countries who do not recognise Israel should do so.
Macron’s remarks last week sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair Netanyahu.
“Screw you!” Yair Netanyahu wrote in English on X late on Saturday, while his father Benjamin Netanyahu himself dismissed Macron’s remarks.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israeli’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 50,900 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory whose figures the United Nations deems reliable.
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Israel-Gaza war looms large over Labor’s hold on Melbourne seats of Macnamara and Wills
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/14/israel-gaza-war-looms-large-over-labors-hold-on-melbourne-seats-of-macnamara-and-wills

Jewish and Muslim communities are unhappy with Labor’s position, for opposite reasons. But no one can be sure whether that will drive votes to the Liberals or Greens – or both
Benita Kolovos
In two Melbourne electorates, just 15km apart, Labor finds itself under attack from both sides of a conflict nearly 14,000km away.
In the bayside seat of Macnamara, home to Victoria’s largest Jewish community, the party has been criticised for its response to antisemitism and a perceived failure to stand firmly with Israel amid the war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.
Meanwhile in Wills, a progressive stronghold in the inner north with a similarly sizeable Muslim community, Labor has been challenged over what are perceived to be close ties to Israel and an unwillingness to speak up loudly enough about the suffering in Gaza caused by Israel’s response.
“People are critical from both the Jewish community and the Muslim community,” says Peter Khalil, the Labor MP for Wills and Australia’s first special envoy on social cohesion.
“There’s an old saying in politics: if you’re down the middle and you’re being criticised from either side, you must be doing something right.”
But the division could cost Labor dearly if it swings votes – as it did in some parts of the UK and the US.
‘Apartment wall’ to ‘bagel belt’
Josh Burns, the Labor MP for Macnamara, admits it is difficult to pigeonhole his seat, which the party has held since 1906, when it was known as Melbourne Ports.
He says there are three distinct parts of the electorate: the once working-class suburbs of Albert Park, Middle Park and Port Melbourne that are gentrifying in the west; the “apartment wall” in the centre, suburbs such as Elwood, St Kilda and Windsor; and the “bagel belt” in the east, including Balaclava, Caulfield and Ripponlea, home to the electorate’s Jewish community.
“It’s a young area, it’s vibrant, but it’s not cheap,” Burns says.
One in 10 of the population in Macnamara are Jewish, making it the second-largest Jewish electorate in the country, behind Wentworth in Sydney and followed by its neighbouring seat, Goldstein, both held by independents.
In the aftermath of 7 October 2023, power poles in the area bore images of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and yellow ribbons were tied around fences in a show of solidarity. But these public symbols have faded as the community grows concerned about a rise in antisemitic attacks.
Since late 2023 Victoria police have launched 341 investigations and made 99 arrests for prejudice-motivated crimes related to the Middle East conflict, ranging from vandalism to physical abuse and neo-Nazi demonstrations.
The most prominent was the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, within Macnamara, which was declared a terrorist attack. Both Labor and the Coalition have committed to funding its rebuild.
Josh Burns in a cafe
Burns has faced fierce criticism from parts of the Jewish community for Labor’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian
Burns, who is Jewish, is one of Labor’s most pro-Israel voices. He visited Israel after the Hamas attacks and criticised his government’s decision to vote at the United Nations for an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and to recognise the “permanent sovereignty” of the Palestinians. In June his office was vandalised, with windows smashed, fires lit and the slogan “Zionism is fascism” scrawled in red paint.
But Burns has also faced criticism from some in the Jewish community who feel Labor should be doing more to support Israel and combat antisemitism, and over his relationship with the Victorian Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell, a vocal advocate for the Palestinian cause. (Purcell has received similar criticism about dating Burns.)
Burns says he isn’t interested in “silly gossip” about his relationship. He has “focused on getting outcomes”, including criminalising Nazi salutes and swastikas, passing hate speech laws and providing $57m to upgrade security at Jewish schools and synagogues.
The Liberal candidate for Macnamara, Benson Saulo, has accused Burns of being Labor’s “lone voice” on antisemitism and Israel.
Australian Labor MP Josh Burns’ office vandalised and damaged in St Kilda – video
“I feel for Josh but the community needs a representative who will take a strong stance,” he says.
Saulo’s leader, Peter Dutton, has said one of his first tasks if the Coalition wins government would be to call Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to promise Australia’s support.
Where Burns and Saulo are united is in their criticism of the Greens, though Saulo confirmed on Monday that he was “briefly” a member of the Greens in his youth.
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Saulo has called the party “divisive” and accused members of holding antisemitic views, saying he will place the Greens last on his how-to-vote card.
Burns says there is “no trust between the Jewish community and the Greens” and he will “not be doing anything to assist them” but declined to reveal how he would direct preferences.
On Friday, as Labor took the satisfaction of Burns being drawn at the top of the Macnamara ballot paper, its campaign confirmed it would run an open ticket, meaning its how-to-vote cards would not direct voters on where to send their preferences.
Simonne Whine, who helped set up the Jewish community group J-United after the 7 October attacks, says this isn’t enough.
“I believe that most of the community sees that as insufficient and he needs to take a stance,” she says.
J-United made a foray into politics at a state byelection in nearby Prahran, running a “Put the Greens last” campaign with support from Advance Australia. The Greens lost the seat to the Liberals for the first time since 2014, though the party has denied that its position on the Middle East played a role.
Sonya Semmens on Fitzroy Street in St Kilda
Greens candidate Sonya Semmens says she is ‘hardline as hell’ on antisemitism. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian
There is such animus towards the Greens that organisers of a Jewish community forum last week would not allow the party’s candidate for Macnamara, Sonya Semmens, to speak at the event. Several people who attended wore T-shirts reading: “Can’t vote Greens, not this time.”

Semmens describes the rise in antisemitism as “deeply distressing” but says it should not be conflated with “peaceful protest against violence and war”.

“Antisemitism must be combated by calling it out where it exists, naming it and dealing with it – I’m hardline as hell on that,” she says.
Third place on primaries will be key
For many in Macnamara, issues such as the cost of living and an increase in crime and antisocial behaviour are of greater concern than the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“I’ve heard many people talk about brazen crimes happening in broad daylight,” Semmens says. “I think it’s a survival situation, where people have reached a point of desperation and are resorting to actions they usually wouldn’t.”
She says crime prevention policies are a part of the Greens’ election offering, alongside cost-of-living measures, which she cites as the “No 1 concern” raised by voters. Burns agrees while, for Saulo, it’s crime.
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If elected, Saulo says, he would provide funding for CCTV for shopping strips. But he does not support a proposal floated by the local council to fine rough sleepers, describing it as “un-Australian.”
“Living in the US, I’ve seen what happens when there’s no safety net for people who hit rock bottom,” he says. “We’re very fortunate in Australia to have one.”
Saulo acknowledges that his comments – and background – may not fit the “typical mould” of a Liberal.
Born to an Aboriginal mother and a Papua New Guinean father, he says he is passionate about climate change and supported the Indigenous voice to parliament. He decided to join the Liberal party as he wanted to help shape the party from within.
Burns echoes a similar message for progressives in the Jewish community: “Now’s the time to re-engage and ensure the future of the Labor party reflects all perspectives.”
The ABC election analyst, Antony Green, says it will be an uphill battle for Saulo, with the Liberals needing at least 45% of first-preference votes to stay competitive (at the 2022 election they won 29%). The Greens, meanwhile, say they only need a few hundred votes to overtake Burns – in 2022 they were 2,000 behind.
“The election in Macnamara will be decided by who finishes third,” Green says. “If either the Greens or the Liberals finish third, I’d expect Labor will win. If Labor finishes third, I expect the Greens will pick it up.”
The conundrum for Jewish voters disillusioned with Burns is that if enough people switch their primary vote to Saulo so that Labor comes third, it could deliver the seat to the Greens.
This was something Burns stressed at last week’s forum when asked about preference arrangements. “Think about the people who make up this electorate, the young progressive people,” he said.
“We are a proud and large Jewish community, but we’re only 10% of the electorate of Macnamara, and preferences, regardless of what the Labor party says, are not going to the Liberal party from those young people. They’re Labor-Greens voters.”
Campaign against Khalil
Across the Yarra in Wills, a “straightforward Labor-Greens contest” is playing out, Green says.
The seat, which takes in Brunswick, Coburg, Glenroy, Fawkner and Pascoe Vale, has been Labor-held since its creation.
But the Greens have developed a stronghold south of Bell Street, and a redistribution has moved Brunswick East, East Carlton North and Fitzroy North into Wills from Melbourne – the safe seat of the Greens leader, Adam Bandt.
As a result, Labor’s margin has shrunk from 8.6% to 4.6%, according to Green’s estimate.
The Greens candidate is the party’s former Victorian leader Samantha Ratnam, who calls it the “biggest campaign in Victorian political history for the Greens”.
She says the party had knocked on 47,000 doors with the help of 300 volunteers by the end of March, receiving “strong support” from the 10.3% of voters in the electorate who are Muslim, as well as other migrant groups.
“There are lots of communities around the world who have experienced war, colonisation and ongoing oppression who really can empathise with what they’re seeing [in Gaza],” Ratnam says. “They don’t want the Palestinians to be left behind or ignored.”
Ratnam has secured endorsements from Muslim Votes Matter and Vote Palestine Wills, with Michael Shaik from the latter group distributing thousands of flyers urging voters to “vote Peter Khalil out”.
Shaik says: “People assumed Khalil was on our side because of his last name and then they are shocked when they read the flyer.” It describes Khalil as a “friend of Israel”.
But the Labor MP defends his approach of doing “quiet diplomatic work” to help resolve the conflict, rather than engaging in “politicising and chest beating on the far right and the far left”.
He says he has always expressed strong support for the right to protest – “so long it is peaceful and respectful” – and for Palestinian self-determination, based on his family’s experiences in Egypt during earlier conflicts.
He notes that fewer people have been raising the conflict, with cost of living and housing taking priority.
Ratnam agrees, saying “cost-of-living pressures are overwhelmingly the issue most people are telling us about”, followed by climate change, housing affordability and then Gaza.
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Hundreds of former Mossad operatives criticise Israel’s return to war in Gaza
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/14/israel-government-gaza-hostages-mossad-criticism

More than 250 former intelligence agency figures back letter urging government to prioritise return of hostages
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Jerusalem
Hundreds of former operatives from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency have criticised the return to war in Gaza amid growing frustration over the failure to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
A group of more than 250 former Mossad figures – including three ex-chiefs – gave their backing to a letter first signed by air force veterans and reservists that urged the Israeli government to prioritise bringing back the hostages over fighting Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli government believes that 24 of the remaining 58 hostages who were taken captive in Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, are still alive.
The letter decried the amping-up of Israeli strikes and ground operations in Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire in March as driven by the personal interests of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It accused his government of putting the lives of soldiers and the hostages at risk for his own political gain.
Critics have alleged that Netanyahu’s decision to return to war in Gaza was driven by a need to appease the far-right parties in his coalition, who have threatened to bring down his government if he does not completely crush Hamas.
“The war mainly serves political and personal interests and not security interests,” said the letter.
The letter was first published and publicly signed last week by almost 1,000 reservists and retired officers from Israel’s air force, which has been at the forefront of the continued assault on Gaza.
It prompted a vehement response from Netanyahu, who said it was written by “an extreme fringe group that is once again trying to break Israeli society from within” and ordered the dismissal of all the active-duty reservists who had signed it.
Several similar statements were successively made in support, including by reservists from Israel’s elite Unit 8200, the biggest military intelligence unit, and hundreds of reservist doctors.
On Monday, another public letter signed by more than 1,500 former and current armoured corps soldiers and paratroopers with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including two former IDF chiefs of staff, called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.
“We are soldiers who have served our country all our lives. We have driven tanks, commanded troops, and paid a heavy price. It is precisely this experience that pushes us today to call for a ceasefire,” said the letter, authored by Col Rami Matan, a former IDF deputy commander, adding: “Why do we continue to sacrifice human lives for unattainable objectives?”
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in negotiations in Cairo, with the involvement of Qatar, Egypt and the US, who have been attempting to broker another ceasefire after the last one collapsed in March and Israel launched a wave of strikes.
Reports emerged on Monday that Israel had proposed a deal to Hamas that would see 10 hostages released. According to Tikva Forum, a rightwing group advocating for the hostages, Netanyahu told the father of the hostage Eitan Mor on Sunday that the government was working on a deal that would bring home 10 captives, but gave no further details on the conditions Israel had put forward.
A Hamas official who spoke to the Lebanese newspaper Al Mayadeen said Israel had proposed the return of 10 hostages in return for an initial 45-day ceasefire, when the Israeli government’s blockade on aid going into Gaza would be lifted and the IDF would withdraw from Gaza territory it had seized since March.
According to the official, Israel and Hamas would also commit to negotiations for a second stage, which is where the previous ceasefire commitments had stalled and ultimately fallen apart. This would include discussions of a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas.
Speaking to AFP on Monday, Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire. He said Hamas was willing “to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid”.
However, he made it clear that the disarmament of Hamas was not “up for negotiation”.
On Sunday night, hundreds of people, including dozens of family members of former and current hostages, staged a protest outside the home of Ron Dermer, the minister Netanyahu has put in charge of the hostage negotiations, leading to five arrests.
In recent days, hostage families have alleged that Dermer, who is one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, has been delaying and obstructing negotiations in order to suit the government’s political agenda. The Netanyahu government has pushed back at the allegations, stating that it was doing everything to free the hostages.
Doron Zektser, the father of the hostage Edan Alexander, addressed Dermer in a statement: “Come out, update us on the situation. That’s your responsibility. If you can’t do the job, resign. He doesn’t speak with the families. They’re rushing to war when it’s clear that only a deal will bring the hostages back.”
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Israel missiles strike Gaza city hospital after warning-from yesterday
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8941661/israel-missiles-strike-gaza-city-hospital-after-warning/

Two Israeli missiles have hit a major hospital in Gaza city, putting the emergency department out of action and damaging other structures, medics say, in a strike which Israel says was aimed at Hamas fighters exploiting the facility.
Health officials at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital removed patients from the building after a phone call from someone who identified himself as Israeli security shortly before the attack.
No casualties were reported in the strike.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians before it struck the compound, which it said was being used by Hamas militants to plan attacks.
Hamas rejected the accusation and called for an international investigation.
The hospital – an institution run by the Anglican Church in Jerusalem – was no longer operational, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
“Hundreds of patients and injured people had to be evacuated in the middle of the night, and many of them are now out in the streets without medical care, which puts their lives at risk,” ministry spokesman Khalil al-Deqran said.
Sunday’s strikes came as Hamas leaders began a fresh round of talks in Cairo in a bid to salvage a stalled ceasefire agreement with Israel as Egypt, Qatar and the United States attempted to bridge gaps between the sides.
Reuters footage showed significant destruction in and outside the hospital compound’s church, and patients who could not leave.
“The scene was scary. From last night until now, I haven’t slept a single minute out of fear. All night, glass was shattering over us inside,” said an injured man, Mohammed Abu Nasser.
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem said the warning to evacuate the hospital came 20 minutes before the strike that destroyed the two-storey genetic laboratory, and damaged the pharmacy and emergency department buildings and other surrounding structures.
“We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions,” the church said in a statement.
The Palestinian foreign ministry and Hamas condemned the attack, saying Israel was destroying the Gaza Strip’s healthcare system.
Israel says Hamas systematically exploits civilian structures, including hospitals, which the militant group denies.
Israeli forces have carried out numerous raids in medical facilities in the Gaza Strip.
In October 2023, a deadly blast at a parking lot in the compound of al-Ahli hospital was blamed by Hamas on an Israeli air strike.
Israel said a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group had caused the blast.
The militant group denied it was responsible.
An investigation by Human Rights Watch concluded the explosion was most likely caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.
Separate strikes in the enclave on Sunday killed at least 30 Palestinians, including the head of a police station in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Hamas-run enclave, according to Hamas and health authorities.
Six brothers were killed when an Israeli strike hit their car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, medics said.
Later on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and destroyed a 1.2km underground tunnel used by militants in the northern Gaza Strip.
It said it struck several militants identified as planting a bomb near the Israeli soldiers carrying out the operation to demolish the tunnel.
The armed wing of Hamas, meanwhile, said its fighters detonated bombs they had planted in a house in eastern Rafah, in the south of the enclave, after Israeli soldiers entered it.
The Gaza Strip war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 50,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.
Australian Associated Press
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Israel’s new truce proposal as Hamas refuse to drop arms
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/middle-east/hamas-prepared-to-release-all-hostages-if-israel-ends-war/news-story/c08bcd744694426afd82c522b836c82c

Israel has apparently offered a new ceasefire deal to Hamas in exchange for hostages, but an official for the Palestinian group said the offer crosses a “red line” on disarmament.
Staff writers and AFP
An Israeli missile strike has hit a hospital in Gaza.
Israel had offered, through mediators, a ceasefire of at least 45 days in exchange for the release of half of the remaining hostages held in the Palestinian territory, a senior Hamas official said.
Hamas said Monday that it would respond to the new truce proposal after internal consultations, with a senior official telling AFP the proposal crossed a “red line” on disarmament.
“Hamas and the resistance factions’ position is that the resistance’s weapons are a red line and non-negotiable”, the official said.
In a statement, the Palestinian armed group said: “Hamas affirms that its leadership is studying … will present its response as soon as the necessary consultations are completed,”
Palestinians help an injured elderly man following an Israeli strike on a metalsmith workshop at the Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. Picture: AFP
Palestinians help an injured elderly man following an Israeli strike on a metalsmith workshop at the Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. Picture: AFP
HAMAS SAYS IT’S PREPARED TO RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES
Earlier Monday, a senior Hamas official said that the group is prepared to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza.
Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory.
“We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,” Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, told AFP.
However, he accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire.
“The issue is not the number of captives but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war,” Nunu said.
“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation (Israel) to uphold the agreement.”
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19 and included multiple hostage-prisoner exchanges, lasted two months before disintegrating.
Efforts towards a new truce have stalled, reportedly over disputes regarding the number of hostages to be released by Hamas.
Volunteers and emergency workers search for bodies or survivors from the rubble of the Manoun family’s house after it was targeted by an Israeli army strike in Jabalia al-Balad, Gaza City. Picture: AP
Volunteers and emergency workers search for bodies or survivors from the rubble of the Manoun family’s house after it was targeted by an Israeli army strike in Jabalia al-Balad, Gaza City. Picture: AP
GAZA’S DEATH TOLL NEARS 60,000
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944.
‘SCREW YOU’: NETANYAHU’S SON BLASTS MACRON
The Palestinian foreign ministry on Monday condemned the Israeli prime minister’s criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron for announcing that Paris intended to recognise a Palestinian state within months.
“The ministry strongly condemns the unjustified attack and offensive remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his son against President Emmanuel Macron,” the Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry considers these statements a clear acknowledgment of Netanyahu’s ongoing hostility to peace based on the two-state solution, as well as a blatant rejection of international legitimacy and a persistent preference for violence and military solutions over the political path.”
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu with his son Yair in March 2015. Picture: AFP
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu with his son Yair in March 2015. Picture: AFP
Macron, in an interview with France 5 broadcast on Wednesday, said that France could take the step during a United Nations conference in New York in June, adding he hoped it would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries.
“We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron said.
“I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do.”
His remarks sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair Netanyahu.
“Screw you!” Yair Netanyahu wrote in English on X late on Saturday, while Netanyahu himself dismissed Macron’s remarks.
– with AFP