Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the Daily OS. This
Speaker 1: is the Daily OS.
Speaker 2: Oh, now it makes sense.
Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday,
Speaker 1: the thirteenth of November. I'm Zara, i'm emma. Katar has
Speaker 1: suspended its efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Humas and
Speaker 1: Israel until both parties show a quote willingness and seriousness
Speaker 1: to end the war. Katar has played a significant role
Speaker 1: in mediating between the two parties, but thirteen months on,
Speaker 1: it could all be changing.
Speaker 2: All right, Zara, I feel like we need to go
Speaker 2: back a bit to explain why this story is so important.
Speaker 2: It's been thirteen months since the latest round of violence began.
Speaker 2: Can you briefly talk to me about what's happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, on October seven, twenty twenty three, Hamas, which
Speaker 1: is a terrorist organization according to Australian authorities, it launched
Speaker 1: an attack on Israel, killing at least twelve hundred people
Speaker 1: and taking two hundred and fifty one hostages. One hundred
Speaker 1: and one hostages remain captive in Gaza today. Israel responded
Speaker 1: to the attack by declaring war on Hummas and bombarding Gaza.
Speaker 1: Data sided by the UN shows around forty three thousand,
Speaker 1: four hundred Palestinians have been killed in the past thirteen months.
Speaker 1: The UN has urged Israel to increase the amount of
Speaker 1: humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
Speaker 2: So you've mentioned there Hamas and Israel, but Hezbola is
Speaker 2: also involved in this conflict.
Speaker 1: It is so just a day after Hamas's attack last year,
Speaker 1: as I said on October seven, on October eight, Hesbela,
Speaker 1: which is also listed as a terrorist organization. It's based
Speaker 1: in Lebanon, but it's backed by Iran, as is Hummas
Speaker 1: and many other proxies within that region. So on October eight,
Speaker 1: Hesbela began launching rockets at Israel and had continued to
Speaker 1: do that until the current day. Since that time, Israel
Speaker 1: has launched strikes and ground attacks in Lebanon, saying that
Speaker 1: it's targeting that Hesbala infrastructure. More than three one hundred
Speaker 1: people in Lebanon have now been killed in the conflict.
Speaker 1: That's according to UN figures as well.
Speaker 2: So that gives us a quick up data sense of
Speaker 2: where the escalations in conflict came from a year and
Speaker 2: a month ago. But what about more.
Speaker 1: Recently, Yeah, so in the last few days or so,
Speaker 1: there's been no sign that the violence is slowing down.
Speaker 1: Israeli air strikes in northern gars have killed more than
Speaker 1: forty people over the weekend. Their local media and the
Speaker 1: Palestinian Center for Human Rights said twenty four people were
Speaker 1: killed and around thirty others were injured when the strikes
Speaker 1: destroyed a three story home. Israel's military said it eliminated
Speaker 1: dozens of terrorists and that it dismantled many terror infrastructure
Speaker 1: sites in the Jibalia area. And then, as you said,
Speaker 1: because we go from Gaza, really then to Lebanon in
Speaker 1: northern Lebanon in Israeli airstrike on the village of almat
Speaker 1: killed twenty three people. That was according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Speaker 1: They're the IDF. The Israeli Defense Forces said the strikes
Speaker 1: were targeted at weapons storage sites and at Hesbola members.
Speaker 1: Earlier this week, a Hesbella rocket killed an Israeli teenager
Speaker 1: in the country's north Denzara.
Speaker 2: I wanted to ask you about Syria, which we haven't
Speaker 2: really heard much out of that country in recent months,
Speaker 2: but there's been a development there too.
Speaker 1: Yes, So at least seven people were killed and fourteen
Speaker 1: injured in strikes near Damascus, which is the capital of Syria.
Speaker 1: That was according to the UK based Syrian Observatory for
Speaker 1: Human Rights. The group said that one of those killed
Speaker 1: was hesbola's commander in Syria. Said the strikes were targeted
Speaker 1: at an apartment building inhabited by Lebanese families and by
Speaker 1: HESBOLA members. It is important to note here, though, that
Speaker 1: Israel has not commented on the strike, though Siria authorities
Speaker 1: have claimed that they were responsible for it.
Speaker 2: So clearly the conflict, which at this point is multi
Speaker 2: pronged across a large geographic area in the Middle East,
Speaker 2: isn't showing signs of slowing. Those conflicts. Those strikes that
Speaker 2: you've just mentioned, all within a matter of the last
Speaker 2: few days or in the last week. So let's turn
Speaker 2: now then to this idea of a ceasefire, and in
Speaker 2: particular the news out of Katar.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so a few days ago Qatar announced it had
Speaker 1: suspended its efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Now,
Speaker 1: the country has been a key facilitator alongside the US
Speaker 1: and alongside Egypt in the ceasefire talks, including mediations that
Speaker 1: led to a brief pause in fighting back in the
Speaker 1: early stages of the war.
Speaker 2: So can you remind us what that brief pause looked like.
Speaker 2: It was quite a while ago, now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, so it was in November last year, so
Speaker 1: it was a year ago now, But it was a
Speaker 1: week long pause. At that point, Hamas released around one
Speaker 1: hundred and five Israeli hostages in exchange for two hundred
Speaker 1: and forty Palestinians who are being detained by Israel. Now
Speaker 1: that's the only real cease fire break we've seen at
Speaker 1: all accepted by both sides despite these ongoing negotiations. And
Speaker 1: just before I get to what Katar has said more recently,
Speaker 1: I do think it's also important to highlight that many
Speaker 1: senior Hummas leaders have been based out of Katar since
Speaker 1: twenty twelve. So that includes people like Ismailhania, who was
Speaker 1: Hamas's political leader before his assassination in Iran in July.
Speaker 1: And so Katar has always played quite an active role
Speaker 1: in the sort of geopolitics and the relationships between these
Speaker 1: two parties because of not just their role in these
Speaker 1: ceasefire negotiations, but also the fact that there have been
Speaker 1: Hamas leaders there for decades long.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back with the rest of today's deep dive,
Speaker 2: But first, here's a word from our sponsors. When we
Speaker 2: talk about a mediator role, I suppose for many of us,
Speaker 2: you know, we might not have had many other examples
Speaker 2: in the news that we can think of when these
Speaker 2: kinds of situations come up. But can you talk me
Speaker 2: through kind of what the purpose of Katari negotiators would
Speaker 2: be in these discussions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I guess it's just to have a third
Speaker 1: party there who is neither Israel nor Hummas, and they
Speaker 1: are there to facilitate and to create those opportunities for
Speaker 1: a ceaspy negotiation to happen. But what's very important, and
Speaker 1: what's happened recently is that they've said they're not going
Speaker 1: to do that anymore until both parties show what they're
Speaker 1: calling a willingness and a seriousness to end the brutal war.
Speaker 1: And not just that, but there were also these reports
Speaker 1: that came out that the Biden administration, who of course
Speaker 1: are outgoing at this point, that they had called for
Speaker 1: Humas officials to be expelled from Qatar because of those
Speaker 1: stalled negotiations. So it could all be changing there. The
Speaker 1: role that could has traditionally played, and certainly what it
Speaker 1: looks like moving forward could really be changing.
Speaker 2: Now you mentioned there the US government, the outgoing Biden administration.
Speaker 2: I guess you know, I can't help but think about
Speaker 2: the timing of this announcement from KATAR, just days after
Speaker 2: Donald Trump's election victory in the US. Would a change
Speaker 2: of government in the United States impact these ceasefire discussions.
Speaker 2: Does that have something to do with KATAR suspending its
Speaker 2: role as mediator.
Speaker 1: It's hard to know this early on. I guess the
Speaker 1: things that we know that are on the public record
Speaker 1: is that Donald Trump and Benjamin Natanya, who have already
Speaker 1: spoken three times in the week since Donald Trump won
Speaker 1: the election. We know that Natanya, who who is the
Speaker 1: Israeli Prime Minister, called Trump the best friend Israel has
Speaker 1: ever had in the White House. And we know just
Speaker 1: based on you know, the last Trump presidency, but also
Speaker 1: what's happened since that there is a very close relationship
Speaker 1: there between the two leaders. We've spoken about on the
Speaker 1: podcast before that Trump has said he was going to
Speaker 1: end wars. He was speaking there not just of this
Speaker 1: war between Israel and Hummas, but also of the war
Speaker 1: between Ukraine and Russia. He said he would end the
Speaker 1: Ukraine Russia war by the time it came around to
Speaker 1: January when he was inaugurated. We don't necessarily have a
Speaker 1: timeline for when he thinks he can end this war
Speaker 1: or how he thinks he can end this war, because
Speaker 1: you know, people haven't been confirmed in their positions, and
Speaker 1: there are rumors about who the Secretary of State might be,
Speaker 1: as Marco Rubio, but nothing's confirmed at the time of recording.
Speaker 1: So really it's a watch and wait to see what
Speaker 1: a Trump presidency means for the conflict and the region
Speaker 1: more broadly.
Speaker 2: And in the meantime, you can certainly see the public
Speaker 2: interest around Trump's involvement with these conflicts. Just this week,
Speaker 2: lots of reports around an alleged phone call that took
Speaker 2: place between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader,
Speaker 2: the Kremlin dismissing those conversations. But there are still more
Speaker 2: than two months to go of Joe Biden's presidency, so
Speaker 2: a lot can change in that time. We'll wait and
Speaker 2: see what happens. Zara, thank you so much for bringing
Speaker 2: us up to speed on this one. Thanks for listening
Speaker 2: to today's episode. We will be back later on today
Speaker 2: with your evening headlines and another deep dive tomorrow. Until then,
Speaker 2: have a great day.
Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 1: Bungelung Kalkaton woman from Gadighl country. The Daily oz acknowledges
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Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres
Speaker 1: Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the
Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present.