Vile moment protester BURNS the Israeli flag in Sydney's Muslim heartland as war threatens to erupt in the Middle East - and Scott Morrison warns Aussies NOT to bring the conflict here
Australians have been warned not to import the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Down Under after a Sydney woman was arrested for allegedly burning the Israeli flag during protests - as the United Nations warns the violence in the Middle East could explode into a full-scale war.
At least 200 protestors gathered in Lakemba, Sydney's Muslim heartland, on Tuesday night for an unauthorised anti-Israel rally at the reserve on The Boulevarde.
The ugly scenes on the streets of the city's south-west saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison caution Australians not to bring the war over here.
'Of course we are all very concerned about what is happening there,' he told Ben Fordham on 2GB.
'We have been urging restraint from all parties involved there to not take any unilateral action on those very stressful and tense situations we are finding there.
'But those things should not be played out here in Australia.'
A woman in Australia (pictured above) caught the attention of police after waving a burning Israeli flag in Sydney's south-west on Tuesday night
With police (pictured) attempting to calm the situation, the woman allegedly tried to flee the scene in Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west - she was later charged
Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops at in the city center of the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday
In heated scenes in Lakemba, police seized the alleged burning flag from the beanie-clad woman, 48, and extinguished it at 9.30pm.
The anti-Israel protester had allegedly been running through the traffic holding the burning flag.
She allegedly fled the scene but was arrested a short time later and charged with behaving in an offensive manner in public and deliberating obstructing police and other members of the public.
The woman is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on July 8.
Mr Morrison also restated the government's policy of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and described Australia as 'an agent for peace'.
He urged Australians with ties to the conflict to act with tolerance and respect.
The protest comes as tensions flare in the Middle East, sparking the worst violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2019.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it's important the conflict in the Middle East did not spill onto the streets in Australia
Pictured: Smoke and flames rise after Israeli fighter jets conducted airstrikes over Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip, on May 13, 2021 as Israel pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 11 senior Hamas military figures
Six high-ranking commanders and a further five key Hamas figures were 'neutralised' on Wednesday, including Brigadier General Bassem Issa and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit, according to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)
Israel on Thursday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 11 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in a series of airstrikes.
But the Islamic militant group showed no signs of backing down and fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities.
Palestinian militants have stockpiled enough missiles to continue bombing Israel for the next two months, security experts have warned, as escalating fighting led the UN to warn of 'all-out war'.
Meanwhile, street clashes continued across Israel, with Jewish and Arab citizens both attacking one-another in numerous incidents, leading to over 370 arrests across the country.
In one incident, an Arab man was dragged from his car and beaten by Jewish ultranationalists, while in another a Jewish citizen was attacked by sticks and stones by Arab Israeli protesters.
At least 67 people have been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday, according to the enclave's health ministry. Seven people have been killed in Israel, medical officials said.
Israel's defence minister Benny Gantz vowed more attacks on Gaza to bring 'total, long-term quiet' before they would consider truce talks after six days of violence. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military would only use 'increasing force' in the conflict.
'We eliminated senior Hamas commanders and this is just the beginning,' he said. 'We will inflict blows on them that they couldn't even dream of.' The leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh hit back, vowing that 'if Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it'.
A fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunish following an Israeli airstrike on targets in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021. - Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip have hit the homes of high-ranking members of the Hamas militant group, the military said Wednesday, with the territory's police headquarters also targeted
Six high-ranking commanders and a further five key Hamas figures were 'neutralised' on Wednesday, including Brigadier General Bassem Issa and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit, according to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
The UN's Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland warned the latest violence was 'escalating towards a full-scale war'. And UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was 'gravely concerned' by the ongoing troubles.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 1,000 missiles in the first 48 hours of the conflict which began on Monday, an average of one every three minutes, and has enough to keep the bombardment going for two months.
Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said: 'According to our estimates we're talking about between 20,000 and 30,000 rockets in Gaza today, rockets and mortars.
'We've seen a constant expansion in terms of range and also in terms of the size of the warheads. They have an advanced arsenal of rockets, I think it's on a par with the fire capabilities of a few small European countries.'
While Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system has intercepted nine out of ten Palestinian rockets, the remainder have killed at least six civilians and injured more than 90. Families in Tel Aviv spent most of yesterday taking cover in underground shelters.
Israel's retaliation has included hundreds of air strikes on Gaza, led by F-35 stealth bombers and Apache attack helicopters, which are understood to have killed 32 and wounded 300. Israel says most of the dead were terrorists and insists 13 children killed were victims of stray Palestinian rockets.
Israeli artillery in action as the escalation continues between Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border, Israel, 12 May 2021. At least 70 people have been killed in the conflict, including around 16 children
Pictured: Palestinians leave their neighbourhood to head to a safer location as Israeli warplanes continue air strikes on Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 12
Palestinian protesters (pictured) running from stun grenades fired by Israeli security forces outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on May 8 - the situation is threatening to turn into all out war
The UN security council met yesterday to discuss the crisis. The heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in the Hamas-ruled enclave has increased international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.
'Israel has gone crazy,' said a man on a Gaza street, where people ran out of their homes as explosions rocked buildings.
Sirens went off in northern Israel on Thursday, local media said, warning of what may be the longest-range Palestinian rocket launch from the Gaza Strip during this week's surge in cross-border fighting.
There was no immediate word of a rocket strike or casualties in Nahalal, some 100 km (62 miles) from Gaza.
Unrest has been growing in Israel and Gaza in recent weeks following violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem and a long-running dispute over the eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem in favour of Jewish settlers.
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