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A daring rescue mission in broad daylight · The Front

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  Speaker 1: You can listen to the front on your smart sneaker
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  Speaker 1: the news from The Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: on the front. I'm christinam it. It's Monday, June tenth.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Caerman Peter Costello has resigned from the board of the
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  Speaker 1: Nine Entertainment Company. The former treasurer called it quits just
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  Speaker 1: days after a physical confrontation with a journalist from The
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  Speaker 1: Australian at Canberra Airport. His resignation is effective immediately and
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  Speaker 1: he'll be replaced by board member Katherine West on Sunday afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Costello thanked the board for its support during a
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  Speaker 1: tumultuous few weeks for the media company. You can read
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  Speaker 1: that story right now at the Australian dot com dot AU.
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  Speaker 1: A body has been found on the Greek Island see Me,
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  Speaker 1: where a major search is underway for British TV doctor
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  Speaker 1: Michael Moseley. The remains were found by occupants of a
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  Speaker 1: private boat on the Rocky coastline near an intricate cave
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  Speaker 1: system known as the Abyss. An umbrella was also discovered nearby.
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  Speaker 1: Local police believe the body belongs to Moseley, who disappeared
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  Speaker 1: during a walk on Wednesday afternoon. CCTV captured footage of
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  Speaker 1: Moseley carrying an umbrella before he vanished. Israeli troops pulled
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  Speaker 1: off a daring rescue mission over the weekend, reuniting four
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  Speaker 1: people snatched by Hamas on October seven with their families
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  Speaker 1: in Israel. In today's episode, The Australian's Foreign editor Greg
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  Speaker 1: Sheridan unpacks what this means for the Middle East and
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  Speaker 1: hopes of a permanency's fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
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  Speaker 2: Jakove Aashel Noa.
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  Speaker 1: On Saturday afternoon local time, an anchor broke the news
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  Speaker 1: on Israeli TV four civilians held captive for eight long
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  Speaker 1: months had been freed. He broke down in tears as
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  Speaker 1: he read their names on the beach in Tel Aviv,
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  Speaker 1: where it was twenty six degrees and sunny. The reaction
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  Speaker 1: was one of pure joy. The rescue operation was risky
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  Speaker 1: and complex. Hostages were spread out across two apartment blocks
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  Speaker 1: in Gaza's Al Nuserat region. It's the third largest refugee
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  Speaker 1: camp in the Palestinian territories, and its teaming with civilians
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  Speaker 1: displaced by the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Harmas
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  Speaker 1: militant group. Raiding the buildings separately would mean certain death
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  Speaker 1: for hostage held in whichever one Israeli forces struck. Second,
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  Speaker 1: if it was going to work, it had to happen
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  Speaker 1: swiftly and simultaneously. Shortly before midday on Saturday, the israel
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  Speaker 1: military's chief of staff, Hertzi Helevi, gave the order it
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  Speaker 1: was time to go. Palestinians described their fear and confusion
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  Speaker 1: as bombs rained down, a strike designed to divert attention
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  Speaker 1: away from the rescue. After a brief gunfight in one
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  Speaker 1: of the buildings and a counter attack by her Mass
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  Speaker 1: fighters in the streets of Nuserat, one of the Israeli
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  Speaker 1: commanders sent word via radio, we had the diamonds in
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  Speaker 1: our hands. The four hostages were whisked away to a
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  Speaker 1: nearby beach and loaded into helicopters that would take them
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  Speaker 1: finally home to Israel. The Israelis rescued in the broad
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  Speaker 1: Daylight mission were all snatched from the No over At
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  Speaker 1: music festival on October seven, where hundreds more were massacred.
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  Speaker 1: They are Andre Koslov and Shlamiziv, who were both working
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  Speaker 1: as security guards at the festival and al Moghmiayan and
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  Speaker 1: Noah Agamani.
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  Speaker 3: Noah Agamani has become a symbol of Israel's hostages being
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  Speaker 3: held in Gaza, Filmed on the back of a motorbike
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  Speaker 3: being taken into Gaza by Hamas militants from the festival
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  Speaker 3: used in Hamas propaganda videos. While in captivity, today she
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  Speaker 3: is free hugging her father, waiting to visit her terminli
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  Speaker 3: il mother in a separate hospital.
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  Speaker 1: The daring rescue comes at a crucial moment for Israel,
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  Speaker 1: when public faith is flagging. Criticism is mounting around the
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  Speaker 1: globe too, as a humanitarian crisis unfolds in Gaza and
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  Speaker 1: Palestinian civilians become collateral damage in Israel's pursuit of Hamas.
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  Speaker 4: It's an extraordinarily successful operation by the Israeli commandos.
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  Speaker 1: Greg Sheridan is the Australian's Foreign editor.
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  Speaker 4: Israelis have found it very difficult to conduct this type
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  Speaker 4: of operation up till now because Hummas stores its hostages
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  Speaker 4: in the middle of civilians, and that puts some moral
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  Speaker 4: cost on any operation that Israel embarks on to rescue
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  Speaker 4: its hostages. It also is the case that by surrounding
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  Speaker 4: the hostages with Palestinian civilians, the minute there's an attack,
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  Speaker 4: the terrorists will kill the hostages. But you know, this
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  Speaker 4: operation shows us quite a few things. It shows us
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  Speaker 4: not only that the Israeli commando is a very competent,
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  Speaker 4: but it shows us that as a matter of policy,
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  Speaker 4: Humas was keeping these innocent hostages in the middle of
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  Speaker 4: Palestinian sivilians. So it was exposing the Palestinians to massive
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  Speaker 4: danger intentionally as a part of its geo strategic purposes.
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  Speaker 4: Then another thing we know from this operation is that
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  Speaker 4: there was a very severe firefight, rocket propelled grenades launched
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  Speaker 4: by Hamas terrorists and so forth against the Israelis. So
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  Speaker 4: that also tells us that Hummas terrorists are embedded there
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  Speaker 4: in the midst of a refugee camp, in the middle
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  Speaker 4: of civilians. This is the Hammas way of war, and
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  Speaker 4: this is what Hamas wants. They want Israel to be
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  Speaker 4: forced to go through the civilian population in order to
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  Speaker 4: get to them. I mean, the overwhelming moral responsibility for
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  Speaker 4: all of the suffering in Gaza lies with Hammas. So
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  Speaker 4: it is at least possible that the symbolic power of
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  Speaker 4: this moment will lead to a change both within Israel
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  Speaker 4: and internationally. I guess the hardest thing to predict is
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  Speaker 4: the effect that this has on the dark, savage, nehilistic
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  Speaker 4: reasoning of Hummas's leadership itself. I mean, they could have
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  Speaker 4: had a ceasefire any time out of the last three months,
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  Speaker 4: in a minute, you know. Time and again the Americans
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  Speaker 4: have said, and the British have said, the Israelis have
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  Speaker 4: come up with an extremely generous cease fire, and all
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  Speaker 4: we've got to do is get how Mus to agree.
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  Speaker 4: But the world astoundingly doesn't put Hamas under much pressure
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  Speaker 4: to do this, and Hummus's Arab inelocutors are very ineffective
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  Speaker 4: and putting them under any pressure. And I think it's
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  Speaker 4: a tribute to the neihilism and savagery of Hummas that
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  Speaker 4: it wants this situation to persist because it sees Israel
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  Speaker 4: continuing to be criticized and damaged internationally. The party standing
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  Speaker 4: in the way of a ceasefire. It's been this way
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  Speaker 4: for months is Hummas. Because Hummas likes this situation. It
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  Speaker 4: wants all this suffering because it's doing Israel damage in
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  Speaker 4: terms of its international reputation. But I think today you
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  Speaker 4: just focus on the wonderful news that for completely innocent
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  Speaker 4: people who were subject to terror and torture and just
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  Speaker 4: hideous cruelty by the world's most to prey of terrorists,
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  Speaker 4: freedom rescued and back with their families.
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  Speaker 1: For months now, negotiators from Kata, Egypt, and the United
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  Speaker 1: States have been working on a ceasefire deal that would
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  Speaker 1: see the remaining Israeli hostages freed and end the bloodshed
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  Speaker 1: in Gaza, and for months now a deal has been elusive.
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  Speaker 1: On May thirty one, US President Joe Biden proposed a
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  Speaker 1: three phase solution on Israel's behalf. He said it would
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  Speaker 1: include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the exchange
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  Speaker 1: of israel hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, and
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  Speaker 1: the repatriation of hostages killed during the conflict, an increase
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  Speaker 1: in humanitarian aid, and a permanent ceasefire.
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  Speaker 5: I know there are those in Israel who will not
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  Speaker 5: agree with this plan and will call for the war
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  Speaker 5: to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition,
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  Speaker 5: and they've made it clear they want to occupy Gaza,
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  Speaker 5: want to keep fighting for years and the hostages are
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  Speaker 5: not a priority to them. Well, I've urged leadership Isuel
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  Speaker 5: to stand behind this deal despite whatever pressure comes.
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  Speaker 1: But later Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya, who reportedly told
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  Speaker 1: lawmakers Biden's proposal is incomplete. Far right members of his
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  Speaker 1: cabinet alleged the proposal was drawn up by the US
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  Speaker 1: without authorization, meaning Israel isn't legally required to commit to it.
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  Speaker 1: Hamas said its enemy's position is unclear. So where do
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  Speaker 1: the weekend's events leave a cease fire deal?
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  Speaker 4: The American Secretary of State Anthony Blincoln, the American National
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  Speaker 4: Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron
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  Speaker 4: have said on a number of occasions, and quite clearly
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  Speaker 4: and repeatedly and explicitly, Israel has offered an extremely generous
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  Speaker 4: cease fire. Now, Joe Biden's three parts plan is a
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  Speaker 4: terrific plan, but it relies on a lot of things
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  Speaker 4: happening in the future which you can't predict. So I
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  Speaker 4: think it's analytically, politically, and morally quite wrong to equate
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  Speaker 4: Hummas and Israel as being equal roadblocks to a ceasefire. Now,
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  Speaker 4: I do think there is something dysfunctional about Netnyahu's position
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  Speaker 4: at the moment, and those two right wing ministers are grubs,
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  Speaker 4: and it'd been much better for Israel and all of
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  Speaker 4: its friends all around the world if they weren't in
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  Speaker 4: the government. But I don't think any Israeli prime minister
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  Speaker 4: would have handled this conflict up to now much differently
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  Speaker 4: from the way it's been handled now. And you know,
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  Speaker 4: the Alberzi government says Hummus must have no part whatsoever
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  Speaker 4: in Garza's future and all the hostages must be released,
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  Speaker 4: but then it tells Israel to stop fighting at the
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  Speaker 4: same time, well, how are you going to stop Hummas
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  Speaker 4: from having any role in Garza's future or get the
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  Speaker 4: Israeli hostages released? Israel leaves Garza permanently as Hummas is
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  Speaker 4: demanding it do, so, the question is does Hummas have
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  Speaker 4: any interest in a ceasefire or not? And the idea
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  Speaker 4: that the Israelis will just stop and leave Hummas completely
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  Speaker 4: in charge so that it can rebuild itself and launch
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  Speaker 4: new waves of terror assaults on Israel in the future,
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  Speaker 4: I mean that was never ago, that hasn't been offered
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  Speaker 4: by the Israelis at any point, and wouldn't be offered
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  Speaker 4: by any Israeli Prime minister. At the same time, I'm
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  Speaker 4: critical of Netnyahu for not coming up with his own
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  Speaker 4: clear plan of how Garza should be run once the
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  Speaker 4: fighting stops. So it's extraordinarily murky. But let's be absolutely
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  Speaker 4: clear about this. The object to a ceasefire is not Israel.
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  Speaker 4: The object to a ceasefire is Hummas.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up the high human cost of Israel's risky rescue missions.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be back after this break. When Hamas launched its
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  Speaker 1: deadly attack on southern Israel on October seven, two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty people, including infants, children and elderly people, were
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  Speaker 1: taken into unknown horror over the border. They were hidden
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  Speaker 1: in areas densely populated by Palestinian civilians, schools, hospitals and
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  Speaker 1: apartment buildings like the ones featured at the top of
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  Speaker 1: this episode. Before Saturday's daring mission, about one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: twenty hostages remained in captivity across Gaza. Dozens have died.
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  Speaker 1: Only seven in including the group of four rescued on
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  Speaker 1: the weekend, have been freed through military operations, but Israel's
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  Speaker 1: leaders say their nation's retaliation against Hamas in Gaza will continue.
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  Speaker 1: In a post made to the social media platform x
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  Speaker 1: formerly known as Twitter on Saturday, Defense Minister Joev Gallant said,
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  Speaker 1: we will keep fighting until one hundred and twenty hostages
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  Speaker 1: are home. Their loved ones have urged the international community
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  Speaker 1: to maintain pressure on her Mass to accept the proposed
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  Speaker 1: deal and guarantee their release.
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  Speaker 2: That's not the way we can win one hundred and
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  Speaker 2: twenty ostges back home. We must all of us together
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  Speaker 2: the wards, follow President Biden speech and go with the deal.
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  Speaker 1: The human cost of these kinds of operations is high.
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  Speaker 1: Representatives for Hamas said at least two hundred and ten
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  Speaker 1: people were killed in the crossfire of Saturday's rescue operation
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  Speaker 1: and hundreds more were wounded. It's not known how many
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  Speaker 1: of those were her Mass soldiers. The Israeli Defense Force
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  Speaker 1: said the number was closer to one hundred killed or injured.
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  Speaker 3: An endless cycle of dead and wounded rushed into Alaxamata's
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  Speaker 3: hospital Saturday, a medical center already well over capacity and
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  Speaker 3: dangerously understaffed and undersupplied. It is a jarring view of
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  Speaker 3: two clashing impacts of one rescue mission.
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  Speaker 1: So for how much longer will the end justify the means?
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  Speaker 4: Israel will have to make the calculation itself how much
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  Speaker 4: the military imperative of destroying Hummas weighs against the success
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  Speaker 4: of Hammas's international political campaign. Now, let me be clear,
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  Speaker 4: these deaths are a terrible tragedy. We mustn't be casual
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  Speaker 4: about them, and we have to honor them as human lives.
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  Speaker 4: But as I say, the moral responsibility for this rests
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  Speaker 4: one hundred percent with Hummas, because there is no nation
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  Speaker 4: on the Earth, including Australia, which would not respond strongly
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  Speaker 4: if an October seven attack were carried out on it,
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  Speaker 4: and would not respond strongly in trying to get back
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  Speaker 4: as hostages. How long can they do it? Well, of course,
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  Speaker 4: until they get their hostages back. I mean, all of
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  Speaker 4: violence could stop tomorrow if Hamas released the hostages. I
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  Speaker 4: don't think that the Israelis will give up on their hostages.
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  Speaker 4: And it's a very very difficult conflict to predict because
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  Speaker 4: you see, Hammas doesn't really operate by rational or moral
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  Speaker 4: considerations at all. You're not dealing with a normal human actor.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, Hamas is absolutely indifferent to the suffering of
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  Speaker 4: the Palestinian people, and therefore it takes actions against Israel
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  Speaker 4: which more or less necessitate a strong Israeli military response.
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  Speaker 4: I certainly believe, as the late Australian soldier Jim Molan
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  Speaker 4: concluded when he conducted inquiries, that Israel behaves as morally
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  Speaker 4: as any Western army would in these circumstances, tries hard
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  Speaker 4: to reduce civilian casualties. But that's not to deny that
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  Speaker 4: the political campaign against Israelia has been tremendously effective, and
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  Speaker 4: it's been presented as a monster when it is a
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  Speaker 4: democratic state trying to protect its citizens against assault by
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  Speaker 4: the most depraved and savage and barbaric terrorists we've seen
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  Speaker 4: in modern times.
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  Speaker 1: Greg Sheridan is The Australian's Foreign editor. It was one
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of the most memorable Prime ministerships in Australian political history.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: As part of the Australian's sixtieth anniversary celebrations, we're revisiting
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: the momentous rise and fall of the Whitlam government. You
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: can read the paper's original nineteen seventies coverage right now
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot au