Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christianami.
Speaker 1: It it's Monday, February three. Food suppliers say the government's
Speaker 1: renewables target is sending their energy bills through the roof.
Speaker 1: The Independent Food Distributor's Peak body, which represents two hundred
Speaker 1: food manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, wants labor to shift its
Speaker 1: focus to coal and gas production. It says we'll bring
Speaker 1: prices down. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order
Speaker 1: imposing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on Sunday. Trump
Speaker 1: said the levies were designed to style me the illegal
Speaker 1: drug trade, but experts say it's laying the groundwork for
Speaker 1: a continental trade war. You can read our experts analysis
Speaker 1: right now at the Australian dot com dot au.
Speaker 2: More is.
Speaker 1: The hostages held for over a year by Hamas have
Speaker 1: been reunited with their loved ones, but questions swirl around
Speaker 1: the fate of some of the Middle East conflict's youngest
Speaker 1: and most recognizable hostages. That's today's episode. It was a
Speaker 1: moment four hundred and eighty four days in the mating
Speaker 1: jardin Biebus, finally free after more than a year in captivity,
Speaker 1: reunites with his sister, Offrey and father Eli. We love you,
Speaker 1: Eli said over and over as his adult son clung
Speaker 1: to his dad. Keep your sense of humor.
Speaker 2: We love you.
Speaker 1: Aufrey, also wrapped up in her dad's embrace, pulled her
Speaker 1: brother close. Earlier on Saturday, Yardin and two other men
Speaker 1: taken hostage on October seven, twenty twenty three were released
Speaker 1: by the Harmas militants who held them captive.
Speaker 3: The three men were released today as part of the
Speaker 3: Israel Gaza ceasefire deal. In exchange, Israel is expected to
Speaker 3: free more than one hundred Palestinian prisoners and allow for
Speaker 3: additional humanitarian aid todate.
Speaker 1: Almost six hundred Palestinian prisoners held in Israel's jails have
Speaker 1: been released and deported to Egypt, Palestine, and the West Bank.
Speaker 1: Two hundred and fifty one Israelis were taken hostage by
Speaker 1: Hamas in the October seven attack. Eighteen have been released
Speaker 1: since the exchanges began on January nineteen. Israeli Prime Minister
Speaker 1: Benjamin Netnyahu, who's repeatedly vowed to bring the hostages home alive,
Speaker 1: said he was thrilled to welcome Jardenbiba's home, along with
Speaker 1: fifty four year old Oph Calderon and sixty five year
Speaker 1: old American israeliman Keith siegel.
Speaker 4: Off, then Keuth Kama Tovlotetrambabat, but he noted the job
Speaker 4: is far from done, saying his government is working to
Speaker 4: bring Yarden's young children Ariel and Kafir, and his wife
Speaker 4: Shiri home.
Speaker 5: Mischa Elia Kulano the Tontl schili Arienne Ukfilbibas.
Speaker 1: Little Kafir Beebas was just nine months old when Harmas
Speaker 1: invaded southern Israel more than fifteen months ago, making him
Speaker 1: the youngest person to be abducted by the terror group.
Speaker 1: He turned two on January eighteenth, one day before the
Speaker 1: ceasefire came into effect, and the second time the milestone
Speaker 1: has been marked in captivity. Kafir and his big brother,
Speaker 1: five year old Ariel, both sport a shock of instantly
Speaker 1: recognizable red hair. In November, Harmas said the duo and
Speaker 1: their mother had been killed in a strike by the
Speaker 1: Israeli Defense Force and released distressing footage of the moment.
Speaker 1: Yarden was told his wife and children were dead, but
Speaker 1: come January, their names reappeared on an initial list of
Speaker 1: thirty three hostages to be released under the terms of
Speaker 1: the ceasefire deal, giving members of their extended family fresh
Speaker 1: hope they're alive. However, despite the safe return of Dad Yarden,
Speaker 1: the fate of Kafir, Ariel and Shiri is unclear.
Speaker 2: The uncertainty is widespread because there has been no confirmation,
Speaker 2: and that's the vacuum that everybody is existing in. Because
Speaker 2: Yarden has been released, He's got no idea.
Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is the Australian's europe correspondent.
Speaker 2: He's clinging to the faintest of hope that they are
Speaker 2: still alive. And since December in twenty twenty three, he
Speaker 2: was told that they had died in an airstrike by
Speaker 2: the Israelis, and he was at the time asked to
Speaker 2: do a video condemning Israel about the attacks and also
Speaker 2: that they needed to release their bodies. Now he's done
Speaker 2: that video. Israel did not release it at the time
Speaker 2: because they said it was propaganda. The Israeli Defense Force
Speaker 2: has said they have very grave concerns about the status
Speaker 2: of Shii and the boys, but they don't have any
Speaker 2: proof from Hamas about that status. So there is this
Speaker 2: enormous uncertainty, and of course it kind of exemplifies the
Speaker 2: agony for the Israelis about this, and that terrified image
Speaker 2: just sticks with everybody because they've seen nothing else of them.
Speaker 1: On Wednesday, the Israeli government demanded that her mass provide
Speaker 1: definitive answers about the status of Shii, Aeriel and Kafir.
Speaker 5: Jack.
Speaker 1: Is there a world in which Shiri and her children
Speaker 1: have died in captivity? And Hamas, understanding the fragility of
Speaker 1: this ceasefire deal, is prolonging confirmation of that fact for
Speaker 1: as long as possible so as not to provoke a
Speaker 1: fresh attack by the IDF. Or on the flip side,
Speaker 1: is this uncertainty about their fate just another way to
Speaker 1: inflict further anguish on the extended Beabs family and by extension,
Speaker 1: the Israeli people well Hamas.
Speaker 2: By not releasing this information, it serves several purposes. Really,
Speaker 2: it keeps everybody guessing. It means that there won't be
Speaker 2: an outpouring of anger if they are confirmed to have
Speaker 2: been dead at a time when negotiations for the ceasefire
Speaker 2: to be a permanent one is ongoing this week, So
Speaker 2: it's an incredibly sensitive and raw time. And I think
Speaker 2: Hamas is playing a psychological game that it's in their
Speaker 2: interests for people not to know what's happened. But that
Speaker 2: also so it gives them leverage in these negotiations for
Speaker 2: them to extract perhaps more prisoners, perhaps more concessions. So
Speaker 2: they're not going to confirm anything to anybody at this stage.
Speaker 1: Coming up, what next for the hostages and for the
Speaker 1: ceasefire deal? Reflecting on the safe return of Jarden biebis
Speaker 1: Oph Calderon and Keith Siegel On Sunday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanya,
Speaker 1: who said he wouldn't tolerate any violations of the ceasefire
Speaker 1: deal broken over months by a coalition of Katari and
Speaker 1: American negotiators.
Speaker 5: Madam but P Michael Damot if Hush should loot maccabeleta
Speaker 5: Fato skin.
Speaker 1: Onto Tuesday, Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump
Speaker 1: at the White House in Washington, DC, with negotiations over
Speaker 1: the trucer's second phase expected to get underway after that,
Speaker 1: though no formal date for the talks has been set.
Speaker 6: Natanyao's offer said that US President's West Asia on boy
Speaker 6: Steve Whitkoff, will talk to Kuthard and Egypt key mediators,
Speaker 6: after which steps to advance and negotiations will be discussed
Speaker 6: with the Israeli Prime Minister.
Speaker 1: And that's where there's expected to be some tension. Phase
Speaker 1: two of the ceasefire deal requires not only the release
Speaker 1: of any remaining hostages by Hamas, but also the declaration
Speaker 1: of permanent peace and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Speaker 1: Israel's wary of declaring peace because it says it wants
Speaker 1: to be able to defend itself if Hamas regroups and
Speaker 1: Harmas say they won't release the hostages until they can
Speaker 1: be sure they won't be targeted by the IDF. Phase
Speaker 1: two is due to begin next month, so should we
Speaker 1: expect it to go ahead as planned? Here's Jacqueline Magney.
Speaker 2: I think this second stage of negotiations is very much
Speaker 2: up in the air. We've got several tension points happening
Speaker 2: at the same time within Netnya, who's government. He has
Speaker 2: to appease the Hawks in his government because he would
Speaker 2: lose power if they resigned, So he's got to keep
Speaker 2: his own politicians happy, and some of them are not
Speaker 2: content with any kind of permanent cease fire. With Hamas,
Speaker 2: they really want to have that option to be able
Speaker 2: to return to hostilities because they perceive Hermas to be
Speaker 2: an ongoing threat and until that threat is reduced to
Speaker 2: a minimal extent, they're not going to agree to that.
Speaker 2: So Netna, who's treading a very fine political line. He's
Speaker 2: meeting with Trump, who wants a cease fire once all
Speaker 2: the hostage is released, refugees to be housed in neighboring countries,
Speaker 2: wants major upheaval in the Middle East, really because he
Speaker 2: wants to focus on Iran and the issues that Iran
Speaker 2: poses with their nuclear power. So this incredible shifting sands
Speaker 2: of the Middle East discontinuing, and nobody quite knows where
Speaker 2: that second stage of talks is going to land. At
Speaker 2: this point, I think people are optimistic because the Israeli
Speaker 2: people want all the hostages returned and they're willing to
Speaker 2: give up anything for that to happen. But once we
Speaker 2: see some of the hostages return that are dead, I
Speaker 2: think the mood will change and that they will realize
Speaker 2: that perhaps they're not going to get all the hostages
Speaker 2: back in the lovely, waving, smiling way that we've seen
Speaker 2: so far. So I don't think anyone can say with
Speaker 2: certainty that this second stage is going to go ahead
Speaker 2: as what's been proposed.
Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is The Australian's europe correspondent. You can read
Speaker 1: all the latest on the situation in the Middle East
Speaker 1: right now at the Australian dot com dot au