S&P cites risk that war could spread

S&P Global Ratings affirmed Israel’s rating at AA-, the fourth-highest score. Last week Moody’s Investors Service put Israel’s debt rating on review for downgrade and Fitch Ratings placed the nation’s credit score on negative watch, both citing the conflict.

“The Israel-Hamas war could spread more widely or affect Israel’s credit metrics more negatively than we expect,” analysts Maxim Rybnikov and Karen Vartapetov wrote. “We currently assume the conflict will remain centered in Gaza and last no more than three to six months.”

The conflict in the Middle East has shown why the Australian Defence Force needs to urgently restructure and prepare for evolving threats.

The defence force needed to be fit for purpose in “a more precarious strategic era”, Department of Defence secretary Greg Moriarty told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

“The brutal assault on Israeli civilians by Hamas illustrates that strategic surprise is an enduring feature of our work,” he said.

Defence force chief General Angus Campbell also warned of a drawn-out conflict as the situation remained uncertain and “in its early stages”.

Two additional Australian Air Force planes and extra defence personnel are being moved to the Middle East in case the situation deteriorates.

Australia’s deployment – which brings the total aircraft in the area to three – was purely precautionary, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

More than 1800 Australians registered with the Foreign Affairs Department have left Israel and occupied Palestinian territories.

The Australian government continues to help almost 80 people trapped in Gaza.

Izzat Abdul Hadi, the head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, says Israel is clearly violating international law by collectively punishing Palestinians in Gaza.

“Last night, 700 people died in only one night,” Hadi told ABC News.

“This is really criminal. This is brutal. This exceeds, to a large extent, the concept of self-defence, which the ambassador, unfortunately, adopted heavily [in his speech].”

His comments came after the UN secretary-general António Guterres sparked a fiery backlash from Israel when he said the country’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza amounted to collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Guterres said the “appalling” Hamas attacks on October 7 did not happen in a vacuum and came after the Palestinian people had been subjected to “56 years of suffocating occupation”.

“They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished,” Guterres said. “Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”

The country’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called for the UN chief to resign immediately and said his comments amounted to “a justification for terrorism and murder”.

“It’s sad that a person with such views is the head of an organisation that arose after the Holocaust,” Erdan said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also cancelled a planned meeting with Guterres in response to the UN chief’s comments.

Izzat Abdul Hadi, the head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, says Maimon’s address to the National Press Club was “a disappointment”.

He told ABC News that the ambassador’s suggestion that Israel was abiding by international law in Gaza was “a joke”.

“He was confronted, actually, by the decent journalists who challenged him that Israel is responsible [for] this and does not abide by international law,” Hadi said of the press club address.

“He said that Israel is not responsible for the displacement of 1.1 million to the south, and Israel is not responsible for killing or bombarding these Gazans displaced in this half [of the enclave], and he’s not responsible for limiting the humanitarian systems through the Rafah crossings.

“He was proud that only 30 trucks entered Gaza, which, as you know, this is not responding to the minimum.

“He criticised the international community focusing on humanitarian assistance and ceasefire.

“He didn’t send any message of peace. He didn’t mention at all the Israeli occupation, colonisation settlements, incursions, persecution of Palestinian people.”

Hours before Maimon’s address, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, that “nowhere near enough” aid had reached civilians in Gaza.

She said the way in which Israel defended itself mattered.

“It matters to civilians throughout the region, and it matters to Israel’s ongoing security,” Wong said.

“Innocent Palestinian civilians should not suffer because of the outrages perpetrated by Hamas.”

A night before the pomp and ceremony of their state dinner, Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese have opted for a more intimate and casual dining experience with their partners.

Biden and his wife Jill hosted Albanese and the PM’s partner Jodie Haydon for a private three-course dinner at the White House’s Green Room on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT).

The couples enjoyed an entrée of cacio e pepe, pan-roasted halibut with grilled baby vegetables and stewed marzano tomatoes for their main, and poached pear with vanilla bean ice-cream.

“Welcome to the White House,” Biden said as he greeted Albanese and Haydon when they stepped out of the black Secret Service-issued SUV.

After posing for photos and signing the guest book, the group exchanged gifts. Biden gave Albanese a custom signature turntable from a family-owned American audio manufacturer, as well as an antique 1886 writing desk, and he gave Haydon a green enamel and diamond petite necklace.

Albanese gave Biden Fire Flower 8, a painting by Australian artist Katherine Bol, depicting the regeneration of Australian flora after bushfires.

He gave Jill Biden a silver leaf brooch designed by Shimara Carlow, and a silk scarf designed by Katarra Butler Napaltjarri.

Maimon said Lebanon-based Hezbollah had fired missiles at Israel and also infiltrated villages along the northern Israeli border, which had led to Israeli casualties.

He told the press club Israel had no desire to open another front in the war.

“But if it will be forced to, Israel is ready. We will not be surprised again.”

Maimon was asked to reflect on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding up a map of “The New Middle East” at a UN meeting last month that omitted the occupied Palestinian territories.

He was also asked for his views on the path to peace after the conflict.

“I am still very optimistic that it is doable, because, as I said before, I don’t think that we have any other alternative,” Maimon said.

“I think the Abraham accords, and the normalisation of relations between Israel and the moderate Arab states can help, because there is a lot that the Arab world can benefit from this relationship with Israel.”

He added that no Israeli officials had abandoned a two-state solution with Palestine, but said “it is important to understand that an agreement cannot be imposed on the parties involved”.

Maimon has used the question-and-answer session at the National Press Club to reiterate that Israel did not want this war and did not start it.

“We are the victims. We are not the aggressors,” Maimon said.

“It is important to understand that we were attacked. Our people were slaughtered. We did not ask for this war.”

Maimon said it was important for people to remember this when expressing concerns about the humanitarian situation and civilian casualties in Gaza.

Maimon told the press club that Palestinians who fleed the war would “absolutely” be able to return to Gaza after the conflict.

He said it would be better for them to “temporarily” leave the enclave.

“I would also like to mention over 120,000 Israelis who are temporarily displaced from their homes,” Maimon said.

“People [who] lived in various kibbutzes and villages and towns surrounding the Gaza Strip, they were evacuated.

“They are now living in different places – some because their houses were destroyed by Hamas terrorists, and some because [of] security concerns.

“The same applies to many Israelis living along the northern border.”