Australia to Appoint ‘Special Adviser’ on Probe into Israel Airstrike

Clothes of members of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) inside their destroyed car along Al-Rashid road, between Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2024 (reissued 05 April 2024). (EPA)
Clothes of members of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) inside their destroyed car along Al-Rashid road, between Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2024 (reissued 05 April 2024). (EPA)
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Australia to Appoint ‘Special Adviser’ on Probe into Israel Airstrike

Clothes of members of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) inside their destroyed car along Al-Rashid road, between Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2024 (reissued 05 April 2024). (EPA)
Clothes of members of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) inside their destroyed car along Al-Rashid road, between Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2024 (reissued 05 April 2024). (EPA)

Australia's government said on Saturday it would appoint a special adviser to work with Israel to ensure "full confidence" in investigations into an airstrike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers including an Australian.

"The government will appoint a special adviser who we have requested the Israelis work with so we can be advised about the appropriateness of the process," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a televised media conference in Adelaide.

"We want to have full confidence in the transparency and accountability of any investigation and we will continue to work to achieve that."

The Israeli military on Friday dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into this week's deadly airstrike on the aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, found serious errors and breaches of procedure.

Wong described the dismissals as "necessary first steps" but said the government had told Israel in a letter sent overnight that "initial responses suggest that the gravity of the death of seven humanitarian workers is yet to be appreciated by the Israeli government".

"This cannot be brushed aside," Wong said, adding that she expected all evidence in the investigations to be preserved.

Along with Frankcom, the airstrike killed citizens of Britain and Poland, Palestinians and a dual citizen of the US and Canada. Those killed were working for the charity World Central Kitchen.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this week said he spoke with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and conveyed Australia's anger and concern at Frankcom's death.

Netanyahu has called the deaths a "tragic event in which Israeli forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip".



France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)

France will host a meeting on Syria with Arab, Turkish, western partners in January, said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Jordan last week.

Speaking in parliament, Barrot added that reconstruction aid and the lifting of sanctions in Syria would depend on clear political and security commitments by the new authorities.

The new Syrian transition authorities will not be judged on words, but on actions over time, he stressed.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that the transition in Syria should be respectful of the rights of all communities in the country, the French presidency said after the leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

"They expressed their wish that a peaceful and representative political transition, in accordance with the principles of resolution 2254, respectful of the fundamental rights of all communities in Syria, be conducted as soon as possible," an Elysee statement said, referring to a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Barrot added that fighting in northeastern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobane must stop immediately.

France is working to find deal between Turks and Kurds in Syria’s northeast that meets interests of both sides, he revealed.

Macron made clear in his call with Erdogan that Kurdish Syrians needed to be fully-integrated in political transition process, continued the FM.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces must be part of the political transition process, he urged.