TRANSCRIPT
- A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding
- Australians evacuated from Israel amid a tenuous Israel-Iran ceasefire
- Sam Kerr returns to the Matilda's training camp as she continues her rehab
Both Iran and Israel say that a fragile ceasefire between the two countries is holding, after 12 days of missile strikes.
It took only hours of an announcement for a ceasefire for Israel and Iran to accuse each other of violating it.
Israel accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace - a claim denied by Iran.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli air force has showed great restraint.
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Earlier, US President Donald Trump sharply rebuked Israel for its military response following the ceasefire deal which he helped broker.
Israel carried out fresh airstrikes on Iran, despite President Trump telling the Israeli government to "bring your pilots home, now" in a social media post.
"Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before. The biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel. I'm not happy with Iran either but I'm really unhappy if Israel's going out this morning because of one rocket that didn't land that was shot - perhaps by mistake. I'm not happy about that. We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k (bleeped audio) they're doing."
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Iran's ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, has criticised remarks from Donald Trump which said he was open to the possibility of "regime change" in Iran.
The US President has since said he does not want to see regime change in Iran, which he said would lead to chaos.
Mr Sadeghi has told SBS, any Western-led attempt to remove Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be so severe that he does not want even to talk about it.
"Disastrous reaction. I don't want to even talk about it. I do not want to even consider it that they dare to do that, first of all. And then after these developments that you consider inside Iran just further united their solidarity with each other."
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The federal government says 119 Australians and their family members have been successfully evacuated from Israel, on an Australian Defence Force assisted flight from Tel Aviv.
The Australian citizens will proceed to Ben Gurion airport after Israel's airspace reopened, amid the tenuous Israel-Iran ceasefire deal.
Australian citizen Taiba Ash, one of the evacuees, says her family had been caught in Israel at the start of the conflict.
"Three weeks ago, we had the intention of staying in Jerusalem for half the time and then Tel Aviv. Two Fridays ago, when things started to escalate, we cancelled that Tel Aviv trip and have been in Jerusalem ever since, trying to get out."
A government spokesperson says they will continue to move quickly when opportunities to safely move Australians become available.
They also say they will continue to communicate directly with registered Australians who wish to depart Israel.
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In football, superstar striker Sam Kerr has appeared at the Matildas training in Perth ahead of the first of two games Slovenia, which begin tomorrow.
Kerr hasn't played since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament 17 months ago.
It is understood Kerr is continuing her rehab with Football Australia’s performance support staff as part of her return to play program, while she is in Australia.
A normal recovery timeline for a knee reconstruction is 9-12 months, but it was recently revealed Kerr has suffered another injury - not related to the ACL - that has also required surgery.
The exact nature of that injury is yet to be detailed, and her return-to-fitness schedule also remains unclear.
Kerr wasn't named in the 33-player Matildas squad for the June/July FIFA Women's international window.
