Netanyahu says he won't stop war 'prematurely' as more Australians reveal daunting journey home from conflict zone
By Heloise Vyas
By Maddy Morwood
Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War
The Israeli military has issued a new evacuation warning for residents in specific buildings of Beirut's southern suburbs, followed by more strikes in the Lebanese capital.
Palestinian militants and Hezbollah also fired a new barrage of rockets into Israel to mark the anniversary of Hamas's October 7 terror attack despite their recent losses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would "not stop the war prematurely" in a recorded message during a government memorial service marking the October 7 anniversary.
Take a look back on our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
Key Events
Trump says October 7 attacks 'would never have happened' if he was president
At least 21 people killed in strikes in Gaza, hospital says
Biden, Harris and Trump mark October 7 attacks
Live updates
PinnedWe'll end our live coverage here
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By Maddy Morwood
We're going to end our live coverage of the war in the Middle East here.
Here are some of today's key events to get you up to speed:
- Israeli PM vows 'we will not stop' in October 7 address
- Sirens sounded in central Israel after Hamas and Hezbollah launch rockets
- Fresh Israeli air strikes hit south Beirut
- IDF declares new military zone in north-west Israel
- 'Relieved' Australian family describe mother's daunting journey home from Lebanon
- How the world marked October 7
- At least 21 people killed in strikes in Gaza, hospital says
- Biden, Harris and Trump mark October 7 attacks
Thank you for joining us.
You can take a look back at all the developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.
Key EventTrump says October 7 attacks 'would never have happened' if he was president
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By Maddy Morwood
Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump warned that Americans should "never forget" the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants as he paid tribute to the victims at a campaign event.
"We can never forget the nightmare of that day," he told a crowd of a few hundred at an event at his Trump National Doral Golf Club in southern Florida to commemorate the first anniversary of the attacks.
He claimed that "the October 7 attack would never have happened if I was president".
At least 21 people killed in strikes in Gaza, hospital says
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By Maddy Morwood
At least 21 people, including five children and two women, were killed in strikes in central Gaza on Monday night, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The strikes took place on the anniversary of the October 7 militant attack in southern Israel.
Two strikes hit houses in the Bureij refugee camp.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies along with about a dozen wounded, including several children.
Emergency responders said more people are thought to be under the rubble.
The Palestinian death toll in the war in Gaza is nearing 42,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and militants.
Reporting with AP
More pictures of October 7 around the world
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By Liana Walker
Earlier, we showed you some photos of countries across the world holding vigils and protests to mark the October 7 anniversary.
Here's some more:
New York, USA
Berlin, Germany
Paris, France
Mexico City, Mexico
Vienna, Austria
One year of war in Gaza — what happened in the October 7 aftermath
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By Maddy Morwood
On October 7, 2023, these Palestinians in Gaza were doing normal, everyday things.
A teacher was getting ready to go to work at her new job.
A teenage boy was playing his favourite computer game until the early hours of the morning.
But later that morning their lives quickly turned upside down.
ABC's Zena Chamas takes us through what happened inside Gaza through the experience of two Palestinians:
Biden, Harris and Trump mark October 7 attacks
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By Maddy Morwood
President Joe Biden and US election rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump marked the first anniversary on Monday of Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel, as the Middle Eastern conflict threatens to weigh on November's presidential vote.
In a solemn Jewish ceremony of mourning at the White House, Biden lit a candle while a rabbi chanted a prayer for the victims, with the president calling for peace even as the region teeters on the edge of all-out war.
Vice-President and Democratic presidential nominee Harris separately planted a memorial tree at her Washington residence.
And republican former president Trump met Jewish leaders at a sacred gravesite in New York, before speaking to Jewish community leaders at one of his resorts in Miami.
Reporting with wires
'Immense frustration' among Israelis
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By Liana Walker
Israeli journalist Noga Tarnopolsky has told ABC NewsRadio there is "immense frustration" among Israelis at their government over its inability to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
She said many feel a sense of lost identity and anguish.
She told the program, for the anniversary of October 7, the government pre-recorded a ceremony ahead of time with no public included, which was screened on TV stations.
"It tells you the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are very unpopular in Israel and were too afraid to hold the sort of public event you would expect any nation to hold a year after the worst catastrophe in its history," she said.
Listen to the full interview here
US calls for Israel to spare Beirut airport
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By Maddy Morwood
The United States warned Israel on Monday not to attack Beirut airport or the roads leading to it, as the Israeli army carried out intensive strikes against Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs.
"We think it's very important that not only the airport be open, but that the roads to the airport be open, so that American citizens who want to leave can get out, but also citizens of other countries," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
The Israeli air force carried out a strike on Monday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, near the international airport.
For the past week, the United States has been chartering near-daily flights to get its citizens and their families out of the country.
Some 900 people have taken the flights so far, Miller said.
Reporting by AFP
How the world marked October 7
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By Liana Walker
Multiple countries have held vigils and protests to mark the October 7 anniversary.
Tel Aviv, Israel
London, England
Amman, Jordan
Brussels, Belgium
Istanbul, Türkiye
Analysis: How war in the Middle East could derail the global economy
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By Maddy Morwood
Last Thursday US President Joe Biden casually dropped that he had discussed military strikes against Iran's oil export facilities with Israel.
Crude oil prices immediately took flight, surging 5 per cent. By the end of the week, they had stacked on 8 per cent.
ABC's chief business correspondent Ian Verrender walks us through what that means for the global economy, and Australia, in his latest analysis here:
Ceasefire could still be reached says hostage negotiator
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By Liana Walker
Gershon Baskin, who helped negotiate the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit 13 years ago, told RN Breakfast there was a three-week deal on the table to end the war.
"I have received from Hamas the agreement for a deal which in three weeks would end the war," Mr Baskin told the program.
"Israel would be required to withdraw from the Gaza Strip entirely, they [Hamas] would release all the hostages, Israel would release an agreed upon list of Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas has agreed they would not continue to govern in Gaza, they would continue the governance over to a civilian technocratic government."
Mr Baskin said there were no military solutions that could end the war.
"Israel can have tactical victories on the battlefield but there’s only political solutions," he said.
"The military solutions may give us breathers for short periods of time, but in the end each round of violence becomes more severe, more people suffer, more people get killed and lose their property and lose everything."
Listen to the full interview here
Key Event'Who is more important" style="width: 650px; height: 433px;" />M
By Maddy Morwood
Nawal Tawk, who spoke to ABC this morning alongside her son Peter Tawk, left behind her own mother in Beirut who she says is unwell in a hospital.
"I was with my mum at the hospital all the time," she told ABC's Gemma Veness. "The bombing, when it started... the hospital was shaking, we didn't know what to do, it's too scary."
"If I leave my mum at the hospital... whose more important? Me, my mum, my sisters, my family?"
"I don't want to tell you my experience, because I am too scared," she added.
Ms Tawk said she "thanks God" she is an Australian citizen, and has another country that is "looking after" her.
"The people in Lebanon … doesn't have anyone to save them."
Key Event'Relieved' Australian family describe mother's daunting journey home from Lebanon
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By Maddy Morwood
Nawal and Peter Tawk say they are grateful to be Australian after the mother safely departed heavily bombarded Beirut.
Speaking to ABC this morning, Mr Tawk said it was "overwhelming" seeing his mum land in Australia.
"The stress and the pressure that was on to try and get her home, the journey itself and the risk that was involved to get to the airport while Beirut was getting bombed," he said.
"Even at the airport, when she was sitting on the plane she was sharing photos with me … bombs are going off everywhere around the airport. And trying to get out of the Lebanese air space as well during that time.
"To finally see her at the airport was a great, great relief."
Watch the full interview here:
Here's where we are at
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By Liana Walker
Good morning
I'll be joining Maddy in our live coverage of the war in the Middle East for the next few hours.
If you're just joining us now, here's a quick summary to get you up to speed:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would "not stop the war prematurely" in a recorded message before an October 7 service
- Sirens sounded in central Israel after Hamas and Hezbollah launch rockets
- Two new strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday
- The Israeli military established a new closed military zone in the border region of Lebanon and Israel
'The skies were red, it was horrible': Melbourne woman living in Beirut
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By Tim Callanan
A Melbourne woman living in Beirut says she's finding it difficult to get information from DFAT about evacuation flights out of Lebanon.
Sonia El Abbas has been living in Beirut since last year but is considering returning to Australia amid ongoing missile strikes in the city.
She told ABC Radio Melbourne she could see explosions from her home.
"It's scary knowing who is getting injured. It's like 20km from where I am but you can see it and you can hear it," she said.
"The skies were red. It was horrible."
Ms El Abbas said some people were sleeping on the streets in Beirut because they were scared to stay in homes close to areas that had been targeted.
"They are all worried but people here are very much used to the fact that this is what's been happening for awhile, but not as serious," she said.
"They are all scared, they can't flee, they can't go anywhere. This is their country, they can't go anywhere else other than move from one town to another or one suburb to another."
She said she emailed DFAT twice about evacuation flights but was yet to receive a response and had been told by commercial airlines that no seats were available until the end of the month.
Rockets intercepted by Israeli Air Force
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By Maddy Morwood
The Israeli Air Force said that following the alerts in central Israel, five launches were detected that crossed from Lebanon and "some of them were intercepted by the Air Force", in a post on social media platform X.
They said that the rest "fell into an open area".
'Emotional scenes' at Sydney airport after arrival of first repatriation flight
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By Heloise Vyas
Yesterday, the first of two government-assisted repatriation flight carrying Australians out of Lebanon touched down in Sydney.
About 350 people were on board the Qantas 787 from the Cypriot port of Larnaca, which landed at Sydney Airport just after 7:30pm AEDT.
Our reporter Victoria Pengilley described the scenes at the airport as emotional.
Locations where Israel says sirens sounded around Tel Aviv
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By Maddy Morwood
Earlier we reporter the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saying their air raid sirens sounded across central Israel after several projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon.
Here's a map the IDF posted on X, showing where they say the sirens were heard.
IDF declares new military zone in north-west Israel
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By Heloise Vyas
The Israeli military established a new closed military zone in the border region of Lebanon and Israel late on Monday, shutting public access to a number of towns.
"In accordance with the assessment of the situation, it was decided to order a closed military area starting today at 22:00, in the areas of Rosh Hankara, Shlomi, Hanita, Adamit and Arab al-Aramsha," it said on its Hebrew language X account.
"The IDF clarifies that entering this area is strictly prohibited."
The Times of Israel reported it was the fourth closed military zone imposed on the northern border since the IDF launched its ground operations in Lebanon last week.
'Being here with all these people makes me feel more safe'
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By Middle East Correspondent Allyson Horn
Because of security restrictions, people gathered in smaller crowds across multiple areas of the country, to watch a live screening of the major commemoration being held in Tel Aviv.
In the crowd, 28-year-old law student Sarai Finkelstein was emotional as she described why she had gathered with others.
"It’s a very, very sad and intense day for us," she said.
"I feel like we’ve been in mourning for a year now, but today it’s so intensified. And I feel like I needed to be in a place with community, with people surrounding me, and feel sad together."
High school teacher Eitan Buchvall was also in the crowd.
"A few of my graduates were killed during October 7 and the war that we’re still in," he said.
"And also as an Israeli, I think October 7 is still a great trauma for us as individuals and as a society.
"And also I think that as a person, as a human being, I think what happened on October 7 and what’s happened since then concerns all of us as humans. And being here with all these people makes me feel more safe."
Reporting from Jerusalem
By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-08/blog-middle-east-war-october-8/104442806(责任编辑：admin)
下一篇：One year of war in Gaza — what happened in the October 7 aftermath
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