TRANSCRIPT
As reports were coming in that Israeli forces had returned to northern Gaza, Qatar and France said they had mediated a deal to allow the delivery of medications to around 45 of the more than 100 Israeli hostages held in the enclave by Hamas.
This is the first agreement between the two sides since the November collapse of a week-long cease-fire, under which 105 hostages were released.
Sharon Alony Cunio, who with her two daughters was among those freed, is campaigning for the release of her husband David, taken captive with them from their kibbutz by Hamas militants in their October 7 attacks.
She has recounted the conditions of her capture.
“No air, no water, no food and no medicine. No words exist to describe the hell we have been through. My daughters had to pee in the sink, to poop in a trash can for 52 days. There were days that I had nothing to give them when they cried. Their eyes were wet with tears, their precious voices were weak from hunger.”
The deal will again see much-needed humanitarian aid, as well as medicine, enter Gaza, where a U-N backed report in December said all of Gaza's 2.3 million people faced crisis levels of hunger, with aid distributed unevenly through the region.
The U-N estimates 1.9 million people have now been internally displaced, with the population facing power and communications blackouts, and the shutdown of most of its hospitals, according to W-H-O assessments.
Zubyiyda Abu Amra lives in Rafah, near where aid has entered through the border with Egypt.
She says the food being distributed is not enough to feed her family.
“I come here at 09:00 and I stay from 09:00 until 12:00. I stay until 12:00 and then I take the food to my children and leave. Some eat and some don’t. The food is not enough for them. The situation is difficult. It is a struggle. My child asks for meat and I say to him ‘Where can I get you meat from?’ He asks for meat and chicken. ‘Where can I get this for you?’”
In northern Gaza, Israeli tanks have stormed back into parts of the region they left last week, reigniting some of the most intense fighting since the New Year.
Massive explosions could be seen and the rattle of gunfire reverberated across the border through the night, while Israel's Iron Dome defences shot down rockets fired by militants across the fence.
Hamas' Health Ministry said the bodies of 158 people killed in Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals In the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll after 100 days of war to almost 24,300 people.
Israel has shown no signs of easing its offensive which follows the October 7 deaths of 1200 people, with around 250 people taken hostage, at least 27 of whom are believed to have been killed since.
Fears the conflict would enflamed tensions in the wider region have now been realised.
In Yemen, the U-S military says it has carried out a new strike against Houthi targets, as the Iran-backed rebel group said it had fired missiles at another commercial vessel in the Red Sea.
The Houthis' military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sarea says the attack on the Greek-owned Zografia was aimed at supporting the Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza.
“The targeting operation came after its crew rejected all warning calls including warning shots. The Yemeni armed forces will continue to prevent the navigation of Israeli ships or ships related to the Israeli enemy in both Arabian and Red Seas, until they stop the aggression and lift the blockade on the steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza.”
U-S National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has defended the strike, which follows dozens carried out by U-S and U-K forces, backed by countries including Australia.
He says the U-S anticipated the Houthis would keep up their attacks, calling for an "all hands on deck effort" to end the Houthi's Red Sea attacks.
“We mobilized a coalition of countries to take strikes to degrade the Houthis capabilities. So their ability to mount sustained and complex attacks becomes more difficult over time. But, we did not say when we launched our attacks, they're going to end once and for all, the Houthis will be fully deterred.”
Alarms have rung elsewhere in the region, with the news that Iran had struck what is says were Israeli espionage targets in Iraq, as well as purported Islamic-State targets in Northern Syria.
When asked about Iran's assertion that it struck a Mossad site, an Israeli government spokesperson said he would not speculate on reports "coming from beyond our borders."
“What I will say is Iran continues to use its proxies to attack Israel on multiple fronts. We condemn Iran's activities and we call on the international community to stand up in defiance of Iran and call for peace in the region, as soon as possible.”
But speaking at the World Ecomonic Forum in Davos, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh of neighbouring Jordan has suggested Israel is deliberately adding to regional tensions.
He has warned Israel against any attempt to create a "mass displacement" of Palestinian refugees to Jordan.
“This is a clear violation again of article two of the Jordan-Israeli peace treaty. And this not only attempts to basically dilute the prospects and endanger the prospects of arriving at the two-state solution, but also it poses existential threats to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that we will have to react to in that context. And we hope that we never arrive at that point.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was visiting Jordan on Monday night the first stop on this week's Middle East trip, before she travels to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
She used a press conference to announce $21.5 million in humanitarian funding for Gaza and the refugee crisis, nearly doubling Australia's contribution, calling on all nations to work together towards peace.
“We come from different parts of the world, there are some very different perspectives but I hope that the international community can work towards adjusting and during peace, which Israelis live in peace and security and Palestinians are able to achieve their legitimate aspirations”.
