Latest / The Front / Ceasefire deal wavers amid political infighting

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Ceasefire deal wavers amid political infighting · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christanami.
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  Speaker 1: It it's Friday, January seventeenth. Don't bank on a rate
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  Speaker 1: cut in February. That's the warning from economists who say
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  Speaker 1: bumper employment figures released on Thursday will have the Reserve
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  Speaker 1: Bank running scared and it could dash the government's hopes
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  Speaker 1: of a pre election rate cut. You can read that
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  Speaker 1: story right now at the Australian dot com dot au.
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  Speaker 1: A long awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has
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  Speaker 1: fallen over at the eleventh hour thanks to political infighting
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  Speaker 1: in the Israeli cabinet. So what now? That's today's episode.
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  Speaker 1: On Saturday, a little baby will celebrate his second birthday,
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  Speaker 1: but for the second time that precious milestone will occur
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  Speaker 1: in captivity. Kafir Beebas, whose shock of red hair became
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  Speaker 1: a symbol of the more than two hundred hostages taken
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  Speaker 1: by the militant group Hamas on October seven, twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 1: will be with his mum and dad, Shiri and Yarden
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  Speaker 1: and his big brother Ariel, and after a ceasefire deal
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  Speaker 1: was tentatively struck between Israel and Hamas, it looked like
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  Speaker 1: Kafir and his family could be among the first to
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  Speaker 1: return home after fifteen long and terrifying months, but now
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  Speaker 1: that future is more uncertain than ever. After the cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Israeli PM Benjamin Etna who failed to ratify the truce.
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  Speaker 2: A ceasefire deal. A ceasefire has finally, at last been agreed.
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  Speaker 1: This is a massive deal, weeks in the making. The
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  Speaker 1: news broke early on Thursday morning. Finally, after four hundred
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  Speaker 1: and sixty seven days of war, a ceasefire has been
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  Speaker 1: agreed between Israel and Tamas. After more than a year
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  Speaker 1: and thousands of deaths, Israel and Hammas will end their fighting.
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  Speaker 1: There were celebrations in the streets of Gaza. World leaders
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  Speaker 1: breathed a collective sigh of relief, but the jubilation didn't
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  Speaker 1: last long. The deal was set to be ratified at
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  Speaker 1: an anticipated meeting of the Israeli Cabinet later on Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: but that was delayed when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyaho accused
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  Speaker 1: Harmas of renegging on parts of the agreement. A senior
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  Speaker 1: Hamas official said in a post on telegram that wasn't
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  Speaker 1: the case, adding that the militant group is committed to
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  Speaker 1: the ceasefire agreement. The hold up came down to political
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  Speaker 1: infighting in Netanyahu's cabinet. His political future has been threatened
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  Speaker 1: by far right members of his coalition who see concessions
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  Speaker 1: made by the PM to bring hostages home as a
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  Speaker 1: loss for Israel against their terrorist adversaries. Its complex, and
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  Speaker 1: this situation is changing quickly. Here's what we know. The
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  Speaker 1: deal was expected to happen in three stages. First, Israeli
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  Speaker 1: forces would begin to withdraw from Gaza's densely populated areas,
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  Speaker 1: so displaced Palestinians could return home and humanitarian aid to
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  Speaker 1: the region could be ratcheted up. Around thirty hostages taken
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  Speaker 1: into the Palestinian territories by Hamas militants during that deadly
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  Speaker 1: October seven massacre were to be freed. The Beavers brothers
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  Speaker 1: might have been among them. In return, hundreds of Palestinian
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  Speaker 1: prisoners currently held in Israeli jails would have been returned.
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  Speaker 1: In stages two and three, it was proposed that Israeli
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  Speaker 1: troops would come completely withdrawal from Gaza and any remaining
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  Speaker 1: hostages would be released before rebuilding could begin in the
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  Speaker 1: decimated Gaza strip I spoke to The Australian's chief international correspondent,
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  Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart, in the hours before the ceasefire deal was
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  Speaker 1: plunged into doubt.
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  Speaker 2: The real challenge Christian comes in the second phase of
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  Speaker 2: the deal, and that requires the release of the rest
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  Speaker 2: of the hostages, but also the declaration of a permanent
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  Speaker 2: piece and the removal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.
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  Speaker 2: Now Hamas and Israel are not in agreement at the
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  Speaker 2: moment on that aspect. Israel's very reluctant to declare a
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  Speaker 2: permanent peace. They want to be able to come in
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  Speaker 2: and hit Hamas if they see Hamas rearming in any sense,
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  Speaker 2: and Harmasas said it's not going to release all of
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  Speaker 2: the hostages until the idef the Israeli forces are completely
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  Speaker 2: out of Gaza, and Israel says, no, that won't happen.
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  Speaker 2: They won't leave Gaza until the hostages are released. Look
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  Speaker 2: sound small in some ways, but in fact they're very
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  Speaker 2: difficult negotiating positions which have to be resolved for the
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  Speaker 2: second phase to succeed. That will be the real test
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  Speaker 2: of this agreement.
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  Speaker 1: Several nations played roles in these most recent ceasefire negotiations.
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  Speaker 1: Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have taken credit for
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  Speaker 1: finally bringing the truce to fruition the outgoing president through
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  Speaker 1: meticulous deploymacy.
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  Speaker 2: This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and
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  Speaker 2: will be largely implemented by the incoming administration and.
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  Speaker 1: The President elect through brute force.
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  Speaker 3: If those hostages aren't back by the time I get
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  Speaker 3: into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.
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  Speaker 1: Even a vow by lynchpin Katari negotiators to steady the
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  Speaker 1: ship couldn't get it over the line. Here's Prime Minister
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  Speaker 1: Shaik Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman Altani.
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  Speaker 3: We are committed. I believe that it all depends on
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  Speaker 3: the parties of the agreement and acting in good fifth
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  Speaker 3: and that agreement in order to ensure that no collapse
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  Speaker 3: happening to that deal.
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  Speaker 1: Kem what happens if both parties can't agree on the
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  Speaker 1: next phase of the deal.
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  Speaker 2: Look, it would be terrible news obviously for those hostages
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  Speaker 2: who might still be in captivity at that point in time.
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  Speaker 2: It would also be terrible news for the Palestinian people
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  Speaker 2: because Israel would obviously begin its at tax again, which
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  Speaker 2: would lead to so being casualties, and I think for
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  Speaker 2: the net Niahu government it would be a very difficult situation.
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  Speaker 2: There are lots of Israelis who really want to see
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  Speaker 2: a cessation of hostilities. A very interesting point here, though,
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  Speaker 2: I think Christian, is that there will be a lot
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  Speaker 2: of pressure on both the Israeli government and a mass
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  Speaker 2: from Donald Trump as the new president. It would be
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  Speaker 2: very much in Trump's interest to keep this piece going
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  Speaker 2: and to ensure that each phase of these negotiations continues
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  Speaker 2: to progress and deliver ultimately at permanent peace. Trump does
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  Speaker 2: not want to see a resumption of hostilities under his watch.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up. What this moment means for Australia. There are
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  Speaker 1: more than fourteen thousand kilometers between Canberra and the Gaza Strip,
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  Speaker 1: but yet Australia's capital and the whole nation has felt
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  Speaker 1: the effects of the conflict in the Middle East. Keenly yes,
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  Speaker 1: through fifteen months of fighting, an anti Semitism crisis has
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  Speaker 1: fested in the streets and in the halls of Parliament. Locally,
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  Speaker 1: political alliance is fractured. Globally, relationships deteriorated. Cam What are
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  Speaker 1: the local implications do you think of a ceasefire agreement
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  Speaker 1: between Israel and Tamas.
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  Speaker 2: I think that it definitely has local ramifications here in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we've seen it really absolutely disgraceful increase of
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  Speaker 2: anti Semitism over the past fifteen months. I think that
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  Speaker 2: state governments, especially the state Labor government of Victoria and
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  Speaker 2: the federal government have really been far too slow to
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  Speaker 2: call it out, to stamp it out, and to really
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  Speaker 2: take action to prevent it. That has, if you like,
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  Speaker 2: encouraged ant Israeli protesters to embrace anti Semitism in all
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  Speaker 2: forms now then outbreak of peace, let's hope it's permanent
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  Speaker 2: peace in Gaza would certainly lead to a reduction in protests,
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  Speaker 2: if not an end to the weekly protests from the
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  Speaker 2: pro Palestinian groups, And you would hope it would reduce
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  Speaker 2: the heat and the temperature of the debate here in Australia,
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  Speaker 2: and that surely is going to lead to an improvement
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  Speaker 2: in what we've seen as far as the terrible harassment
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  Speaker 2: of Australian Jews.
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  Speaker 1: There's a federal election due in May. Do you think
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  Speaker 1: there'll be an attempt by either side to take this
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  Speaker 1: conflict and the Middle East, perhaps more broadly off the
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  Speaker 1: agenda before then.
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  Speaker 2: I think the federal government certainly will be very gen
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  Speaker 2: to get this off the agenda because the Albanese government
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  Speaker 2: it's really been a loser on both counts as far
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  Speaker 2: as the local electric goes, because it certainly has lost
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  Speaker 2: a lot of Jewish voters who are very unhappy with
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  Speaker 2: what they see is a weak fight against anti Semitism
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  Speaker 2: from the Albanese government. But also a lot of Islamic
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  Speaker 2: voters in those western Sydney seats are annoyed with what
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  Speaker 2: they believe is a to pro israel A position from
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  Speaker 2: the Albanesi government. So I think the whole conflict in
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  Speaker 2: the Middle East has been a loser for the Arbenese government.
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  Speaker 2: I think electorally they would love to see a cease
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  Speaker 2: fire now so that the issue at least recedes in
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  Speaker 2: the minds of many voters, such that it won't be
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  Speaker 2: as much of a turning point or a voting issue
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  Speaker 2: when the election is actually held vatter this year. But
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  Speaker 2: also I think it'll be interesting to see whether during
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  Speaker 2: the election campaign the opposition leader Peter Dutton continues to
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  Speaker 2: push these issues about the government's handling of the Israeli
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  Speaker 2: conflict and of course, it's handling about his Semitism in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: I think Dutton certainly sees this as a winner for
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  Speaker 2: the Conservatives, and I suspect he will try to keep
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  Speaker 2: the issue alive in the public mind at the same
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  Speaker 2: time as the Labor government will be trying to reduce
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  Speaker 2: the memory of Australians about this issue.
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  Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart is The Australian's chief international correspondent. This situation
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  Speaker 1: is moving quickly. For all the latest visit the Australian
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  Speaker 1: dot com Dot you thanks for joining us on the
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  Speaker 1: front this week. Our team is Claire Harvey, Jasper leik
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  Speaker 1: Leotsa mcglou Josh Burton, Tiffany Dimac, Stephanie Coombs, Stella McKenna
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  Speaker 1: and me christinam Yet