TRANSCRIPT
- The one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel marked in Australia
- Iran's foreign ministry summons Australia's ambassador in Tehran
- The Panthers become the first team in six decades to win four straight NRL titles
Vigils and solemn ceremonies will be held across Australia marking one year since deadly Hamas attacks in Israel as tensions across the nation remain high.
Candlelight vigils will be held across many Australian cities today to mark the October 7 attacks.
Members of the Jewish community joined Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon at a commemoration in Sydney on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, a survivor of the October 7 Hamas attacks tells SBS she is very happy to be alive and in Australia.
Michal Ohana says these are very emotional days, as she recalls the attack at the Nova music festival in southern Israel last year which killed 1,200 people and resulted in around 250 others being taken hostage.
This attack was followed by Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians.
Michal says two of her friends who were kidnapped by Hamas are still trapped in Gaza and says she is calling for them to come home.
"It's so emotional day for me today and tomorrow, and it's so hard for me to share my story again and again and again. But I know that it's so important to share this story and to make sure people understand what happened to us on October 7th and what still happened to us until today."
**
Thousands have taken to the streets at pro-Palestinian protests across Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide on Sunday.
Tasmin Sammak is a protest organiser who has been holding demonstrations for almost a year against Israel's ongoing attack on Gaza.
Her family has lived in the Gaza Strip since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, also known as the Nakba by Palestinians and their allies, which resulted in the mass displacement and dispossession of many Palestinians.
She says she's lost many family members to Israeli strikes.
"And just yesterday my dad received the news of five women in our family, his cousins, my aunties, and second cousins who were slaughtered in a massacre in Gaza. They have survived an entire year of bombs. They have been displaced. The entire camp is rubble. They have buried family, and now the death has caught up to them. They are now under the rubble."
**
Iran's foreign ministry has summoned the Australian ambassador in Tehran, Ian McConville, over what it says is his country's biased stance on Iran's attack against Israel.
Australia's embassy in Tehran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tehran launched a missile attack against Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for the killing of several leaders of Iran-aligned armed groups.
Israel has vowed to respond.
**
United Nations refugee chief Filippo Grandi is in Beirut where he says Lebanon is facing a "major displacement crisis" due to Israel's escalating airstrikes, some of which, he says, have violated international law.
Lebanese officials estimate 1.2 million people are now displaced.
The UN has appealed for nearly $500 million U-S dollars for the humanitarian crisis, with 40 per cent of the funds secured so far.
Mr Grandi also highlighted multiple violations of international humanitarian law, with airstrikes destroying civilian infrastructure.
He says the bombardment has also cut off access to a key border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.
"You have a humanitarian challenge due to displacement, but also a humanitarian challenge. And I would say human rights challenges due to the impossibility of being displaced, you're prevented from fleeing by the circumstances. And by the way, the bombing of the off the road, which has defacto blocked many people from seeking safety in Syria, is another example."
Meanwhile, Israel has issued fresh evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, as it continues to carry out strikes on Beirut.
In Gaza, Israeli strikes on a mosque and a school in Deir al-Balah have killed at least 26 people. Israel's army says the strikes were targeting Hamas fighters.
**
Former Labor Senator Fatima Payman, who now sits as an independent, is set to announce the formation of a new political party later this week.
The first term Senator quit Labor in July this year after crossing the floor in the Senate to support a green's motion to recognise a Palestinian state.
The ABC has reported that the new party won't carry Senator Payman's name and it won't be pitched as a religiously based party.
The party aims to run Senate candidates in every state as well as potentially in marginal, lower house seats.
**
In sports, Panthers co-captain Nathan Cleary says there is little more Penrith can do to prove they are the best team of the NRL era, after his side claimed their fourth-straight premiership.
Panthers players are celebrating their 14-6 grand final win over Melbourne.
Their the first team to win a fourth consecutive title in almost 60 years, when the great St George side won their last of their 11 straight in 1966.
South Sydney also won five straight between 1925 and 1929, as the only other team in the game's history to have claimed at least four titles on the trot.
Since the salary cap was introduced in 1990, only Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters have won back-to-back titles.
Nathan Cleary says he is still processing the result.
"Looking around and seeing four rings - it's honestly crazy. I think it was five years ago - or four years ago - that we were out there. We were the ones there crying, losing to that same time. They were the benchmark for so long. And then go four straight. Honestly, it's unbelievable; and it's such a great feeling."
