Australia has backed a United Nations resolution demanding "an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza" and the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The ceasefire demand is an escalation by the 193-member UN General Assembly, which in October last year called for and then — two months later — demanded an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza and the release of all hostages. The resolution passed overwhelmingly with the support of 158 countries, including key Australian allies, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. Israel, the US, and seven other nations voted against it. UN resolution on Palestinian sovereignty: Australia's vote and what it means Australia was also among 159 nations to back a separate resolution deploring a new Israeli law that will ban United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees' (UNRWA) operations in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories from late January. It demanded that Israel respect UNRWA's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction". Israel, the US, and seven other countries voted against the resolution. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network praised the vote, saying it was a "crucial step" in standing up against the "brutal violence" Israel has inflicted on Palestinians. Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' October 7 attack last year in which more than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas. But the Executive Council of Australian Jewry was critical, labelling the ceasefire resolution "immoral" and that the federal government's decision to support the vote was "a mark of shame". "Although the resolution calls for the ‘immediate and unconditional release of all hostages’, it does not make the release of the hostages interdependent with the ceasefire and does not require Hamas to lay down its arms," the peak Jewish body's president Daniel Aghion said in a statement. "Nor does the resolution condemn Hamas for initiating the war on October 7, 2023 or for its many atrocities." 'No role for terrorists in Gaza's future governance' UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the Hamas-Israel war. Australia's UN representative James Larsen said despite that country's support of the resolutions, it "does not agree with everything" in them. He said in addition to the calls for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," the ceasefire resolution should have condemned Hamas' actions and required it to lay down its arms. "There can be no role for terrorists in the future governance of Gaza," he said. 05/12/2024 06:50 Play Larsen also expressed Australia's grave concern over Israel's UNRWA ban, saying limiting the agency's operations "will only exacerbate an already terrible humanitarian crisis". "Australia reiterates calls for the protection of humanitarian and United Nations personnel, including UNRWA staff, to enable them to perform their lifesaving work," he said. "The best protection for humanitarian personnel and civilians is a ceasefire." But Larsen urged UNRWA to address any credible allegations against its staff, saying "any involvement or affiliation with terrorist organisations cannot be tolerated". Australia was one of several nations that suspended funding to UNRWA earlier this year after the Israeli government accused some of the agency's staff of being involved in Hamas' October 7 attacks. Australia's funding resumed in March following a UN investigation. Religious leaders condemn 'irrational' attacks after 'devastating' synagogue blaze Rising tensions between Israel and Australia Tensions between Australia and Israel have risen in recent weeks after Australia supported a UN resolution demanding an end to Israel's "unlawful presence" in the occupied Palestinian territories . On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Albanese government of holding an "extreme anti-Israeli position", and said it was "impossible to separate" an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue from Australia's support of that resolution . Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Monday reiterated the government's condemnation of antisemitism, saying "acts of hate have no place in Australia". But she also defended Australia backing the call for Israel to end its "unlawful presence" in the occupied Palestinian territories. "It is not antisemitic to expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries," she said while delivering the University of South Australia's Hawke Lecture. "Nor is it antisemitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security." On Thursday, the Opposition's Home Affairs spokesperson James Paterson accused the government of "gaslighting of the Jewish community while claiming to be concerned about antisemitism". "Anthony Albanese should at least have the decency to admit he is trading votes at the UN for votes in the inner city," he wrote on X. Earlier, Labor MP Anne Aly warned that conflating Jewish Australians with the actions of the Israeli government "leads us down a very dangerous path". "I think we need to be very mindful of the fact that when we talk about Jewish Australians, we're talking about people who live here in this country who have nothing to do with what is happening in Israel, and we need to separate the two issues and not conflate them," she told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning. — With reporting by Reuters news agency
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BY MELISSA GOLDIN Social media users are misrepresenting a report released Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general’s office, falsely claiming that it’s proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Related Articles National News | OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment National News | Judge rejects an attempt by Trump campaign lawyer to invalidate guilty plea in Georgia election case National News | Texas’ abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine National News | US military flies American released from Syrian prison to Jordan, officials say National News | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds The watchdog report examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report’s finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events. Although 17 of those informants either entered the Capitol or a restricted area around the building during the riot, none of the 26 total informants were authorized to do so by the bureau, according to the report. Nor were they authorized to otherwise break the law or encourage others to do so. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A December 2024 report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General is proof that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a setup by the FBI. THE FACTS: That’s false. The report found that no undercover FBI employees were at the riot on Jan. 6 and that none of the bureau’s informants were authorized to participate. Informants, also known as confidential human sources, work with the FBI to provide information, but are not on the bureau’s payroll. Undercover agents are employed by the FBI. According to the report, 26 informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 in connection with the day’s events. FBI field offices only informed the Washington Field Office or FBI headquarters of five informants that were to be in the field on Jan. 6. Of the total 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 13 entered a restricted area around the Capitol. But none were authorized to do so by the FBI, nor were they given permission to break other laws or encourage others to do the same. The remaining nine informants did not engage in any illegal activities. None of the 17 informants who entered the Capitol or surrounding restricted area have been prosecuted, the report says. A footnote states that after reviewing a draft of the report, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington said that it “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol, which has resulted in the Office declining to charge hundreds of individuals; and we have treated the CHSs consistent with this approach.” The assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division told the inspector general’s office that he “denied a request from an FBI office to have an undercover employee engage in investigative activity on January 6.” He, along with then-Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono, said that FBI policy prohibits undercover employees at First Amendment-protected events without investigative authority. Many social media users drew false conclusions from the report’s findings. “JANUARY 6th WAS A SETUP!” reads one X post that had received more than 11,400 likes and shares as of Friday. “New inspector general report shows that 26 FBI/DOJ confidential sources were in the crowd on January 6th, and some of them went into the Capitol and restricted areas. Is it a coincidence that Wray put in his resignation notice yesterday? TREASON!” The mention of Wray’s resignation refers to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s announcement Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. Other users highlighted the fact that there were 26 FBI informants in Washington on Jan. 6, but omitted key information about the findings of the report. These claims echo a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the Capitol in a violent clash with police. The report knocks that theory down. Wray called such theories “ludicrous” at a congressional hearing last year. Asked for comment on the false claims spreading online, Stephanie Logan, a spokesperson for the inspector general’s office, pointed The Associated Press to a press release about the report. In addition to its findings about the the FBI’s involvement on Jan. 6, the report said that the FBI, in an action its now-deputy director described as a “basic step that was missed,” failed to canvass informants across all 56 of its field offices for any relevant intelligence ahead of time. That was a step, the report concluded, “that could have helped the FBI and its law enforcement partners with their preparations in advance of January 6.” However, it did credit the bureau for preparing for the possibility of violence and for trying to identify known “domestic terrorism subjects” who planned to come to Washington that day. The FBI said in a letter responding to the report that it accepts the inspection general’s recommendation “regarding potential process improvements for future events.”
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