23 December 2023, The Age, by Michelle Nichols: Amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.
Read MoreThe fight to keep counting the dead in Gaza
23 December 2023, The Age, by Bassam Massoud and Maggie Fick: The morgue workers at the Nasser Hospital are part of an international effort that includes doctors and health officials in Gaza as well as academics, activists and volunteers around the world, to ensure the toll doesn’t become a casualty of the increasingly dire conditions of the war.
Read MoreGaza death toll passes 20,000 as US says it will support watered-down aid resolution
23 December 2023, The Age, by Najib Jobain, Jack Jeffery and Colleen Barry: Rafah, Gaza Strip: Health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip say more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas. The figure, amounting to nearly 1 per cent of the territory’s prewar population, is a new reflection of the staggering cost of the war, which in just over 10 weeks has displaced more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s people and devastated wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave.
Read MorePeace at any price often leads to an even greater war
23 December 2023, The Australian, by Dave Sharma: At his Lowy Institute address on Tuesday evening, Albanese asserted Australia had a responsibility to uphold and defend the global framework. But at every test, at every juncture where the international system is being tested, this government goes to ground. Albanese is relegating Australia to the role of bystander in world affairs, a commentator but not an actor.
Read MoreIn shrinking world, even the Red Sea is part of our ‘region
23 December 2023, The Australian, by Gerard Henderson: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 2023 Lowy Lecture on Tuesday was both newsworthy and considered. Which makes one omission from the address notable.
Read MoreIsrael-Gaza war: Human Rights Watch says starvation is being used as ‘a weapon of war’ by the Israeli government
19 December 2023, ABC / Reuters / AFP: The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, according to the latest report from Human Rights Watch.
Read MoreUS urges Israel to do more to protect Gaza civilians
19 December 2023, Canberra Times / AAP, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Bassam Masoud and James Mackenzie: Washington’s support for Israel is “unshakable” but its ally must do more to protect civilians, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says, as the country’s war against Hamas brings yet more death and destruction to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Read MoreViral video of near-naked Palestinian captives in Gaza sparked outrage. For Hani, it was deeply personal
17 December 2023, ABC, by Brad Ryan in Washington DC: Just a few weeks ago, the home Hani owned with his brother was hit by an Israeli air strike during the night. Majed, his wife and their four children were killed.
Read MoreIsraeli army admits it mistakenly shot and killed three hostages
17 December 2023, The Age / AP, by Najib Jobain, Jack Jeffery and Julia Frankel: Israeli troops have mistakenly shot and killed three hostages in a battletorn neighbourhood of Gaza City, and an Israeli strike killed a Palestinian journalist in the south of the besieged territory.
Read MoreIsrael-Hamas conflict adds to strain on Labor
16 December 2023, The Canberra Times, by Michelle Grattan: For an issue in which Australia is not a player and has no direct influence, the Israel-Hamas conflict is putting serious strain on the Albanese government, internally and externally.
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