BBC 2025-02-09 12:05:37


What will anger at sight of gaunt hostages mean for a fragile ceasefire?

Joe Inwood

BBC News
Reporting fromJerusalem

The sight of Eli Sharabi being interviewed on stage, surrounded by Hamas fighters, has caused heartbreak and fury in equal measure amongst Israelis.

“How do you feel?” he is asked by a masked interviewer. “I feel very happy today to return to… my wife and daughters”, he answers, seemingly unaware they were killed in Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The scene was broadcast live around the world, the stage-managed handover of hostages, to send a message.

The ranks of armed fighters, the banner in Arabic, Hebrew and English declaring “We are the flood… the war’s next day” – all filmed on modern camera equipment – says to the world they are still in charge in the Gaza Strip and intend to remain so.

In previous exchanges, Hamas have also sought to give the impression that they had taken good care of those they had kidnapped.

It was not possible this time.

All three men looked gaunt and sunken-eyed. As their images were broadcast into Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, the mood changed from one of celebration to anguish.

“It’s complicated,” said 21-year-old Ruth Senderovich, who was watching on the big screens. “It’s the greatest joy that I’ve had in a while, and it’s also devastating because you see men that were leaders of the family, they were fathers, and now you see broken men.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “will not gloss over the shocking scenes”, and that action would be taken accordingly, without specifying what that would be.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitates the transfers, said it was “increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations” – calling for them to be “dignified and private”.

But it is not only Hamas who have come under fierce criticism for the condition of the people they have been releasing.

Shortly after the three hostages were freed, 183 Palestinians – some serving long sentences for their part in the killings of Israelis, others held without charge – left Israeli jails.

One of those being released was Jamal al-Tawil, the former mayor of al-Bireh. He has spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prisons, in part over allegations that he helped plot suicide bombings. Recently he had been on hunger strike to protest against his detention without charge.

His daughter, who was herself recently released from prison, claimed that he was beaten in the final moments before his release. He had to be carried from the bus to the hospital while connected to a ventilator.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, seven of those being released from Israeli jails needed hospital treatment following their imprisonment.

There have been numerous reports since 7 October 2023, accusing the Israeli authorities of abusing Palestinian prisoners.

The question now is what impact, if any, Saturday’s releases will have on the fragile ceasefire deal.

Israel has said it is sending negotiators to Qatar to discuss “technical issues”, before they begin talks around the next phase. It has also warmly welcomed the suggestion by US President Donald Trump that Gaza would be emptied of Palestinians.

Hamas, meanwhile, has accused Israel of a “lack of commitment” regarding the ceasefire, but said that the group is still ready to join any talks.

Hamas also released a slickly produced video of the release of the three hostages. Filmed in underground tunnels, apparently learning they are to be released. They speak to the camera, thanking God and then putting on uniforms with their own photos on them.

The release of the video was soon followed by a statement from the families asking for it not to be broadcast.

For all the anger about the condition of those being held, there was another conclusion that many have drawn from today. A deal to secure their freedom – and a permanent end to the fighting – cannot come soon enough.

For in the gaunt, haunted faces of those being freed, was written the cost of delay.

Hostages freed and prisoners released in latest ceasefire exchange

Raffi Berg & Mallory Moench

BBC News

Hamas has freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza, while Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange as part of an internationally brokered ceasefire deal.

The three hostages – Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy – were handed over to the Red Cross on Saturday morning before reuniting with their families in Israel.

Concerns have been raised about their wellbeing, with Mr Sharabi’s family – who live in the UK – describing their shock at his “gaunt” appearance.

Returning Palestinian prisoners were greeted with scenes of celebration at Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Representatives claimed they all needed “medical care”, without giving specifics.

So far, 21 hostages and 566 prisoners have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January.

By the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks time, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are expected to have been freed. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.

As Mr Sharabi, Mr Ben Ami and Mr Levy were handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, crowds lined up, cordoned off by a row of armed fighters, to watch and film on mobile phones, as Hamas and Palestinian flags flew.

A Hamas official and Red Cross representative signed paperwork on a stage to complete the handover. The hostages were then paraded on stage, flanked by men with guns. The three men posed holding certificates and answered questions into a microphone, before waving as they were ushered into Red Cross vehicles.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed horror at the physical state of the men who he said were “returning after 491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticised the men’s state, saying “we have seen again what the monsters of Hamas are”.

He also accused Hamas of “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal, without providing specifics.

Speaking to BBC Arabic on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the latest release of Israeli hostages had been carried out in a “civilised manner”.

He also accused Israel of “dragging its feet” on implementing humanitarian relief agreed as part of the ceasefire.

  • What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal

Netanyahu’s co-ordinator of prisoners and missing persons said Israel treated the issues with “great severity” and would raise them with ceasefire mediators and take action.

Mr Sharabi’s brother-in-law, Steve Brisley, told the BBC that having confirmation he is alive is “what we’ve been working toward for the last 16 months”.

It was “incredibly difficult” to see him “thin, gaunt” and being paraded by Hamas, Mr Brisley said. “It’s the light that’s gone from his eyes that’s really struck home for me.”

Eli Sharabi, 52, was taken from Kibbutz Beeri with his brother, Yossi, whose death has since been confirmed. Eli’s British-born wife, Lianne, and two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were murdered in the attack.

During his release, Mr Sharabi was filmed saying he was “very happy today to return to…my wife and daughters”, adding to concerns he was unaware his family had been killed.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that “the disturbing images” of the release “serve as yet another stark and painful evidence that leaves no room for doubt – there is no time to waste for the hostages! We must get them all out, down to the very last hostage”.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the handover, said it was “increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations”.

“We strongly urge all parties, including the mediators, to take responsibility to ensure that future releases are dignified and private,” it said.

Later on Saturday, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners. More than 70 are serving life or long sentences, and 111 are Gazans detained during the war. Seven are due to be deported.

Seven of the released prisoners were admitted to hospital in Ramallah because of poor health, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club told AFP.

Watch: Released Palestinian prisoners greeted in Ramallah

“All the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care, treatment, and examinations as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months,” the group’s Abdullah al-Zaghari said.

One of those released was Jamal al-Tawil, 61, a prominent Hamas politician in the occupied West Bank and former mayor of the village of al-Bireh, who has spent more than 19 years in and out of Israeli prisons.

His daughter Bushra al-Tawil was freed in an earlier prisoner release in January.

Both father and daughter were most recently held without charge, media reported.

Khadra al-Daghma, the mother of another released Palestinian prisoner, described feeling “so happy, overjoyed” having seen her son for the first time in 15 years.

“My heart is filled with happiness,” she told a reporter in Gaza, adding that her son, Ammar Fadel al-Daghma, had “changed a lot” and was “not the same”.

According to the Israeli Prison Service, he was detained for offences including arson, attempted murder and service to an illegal organisation.

  • Freed Palestinian prisoner welcomes Gaza deal
  • Who are Israeli hostages released and rescued from Gaza

Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering the war.

At least 47,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.

Watch: How triple hostage release unfolded

Ohad Ben Ami, 56, was also taken from Kibbutz Beeri, along with his wife, Raz. She was later released by Hamas.

Mr Ben Ami, an accountant, is “known for his good judgment and sense of humour”, according to the Hostages Families Forum.

Or Levy, 34, a computer programmer from Rishon LeZion, a city south of Tel Aviv, fled the Nova festival with his wife Eynav, when gunmen attacked the event.

Mr Levy was taken hostage and Eynav’s body was found in a bomb shelter where the couple had been hiding.

In a statement, Mr Levy’s family said: “Our hearts tremble and our minds struggle to comprehend the sight of Or, who has returned to us in such a devastating state. His face bears witness to the hell he endured during 491 days in the hands of Hamas monsters.

“After an unbearable period of darkness, we can finally embrace him again and begin healing his body and spirit,” the statement said.

  • Jeremy Bowen: Trump’s Gaza plan won’t happen, but it will have consequences
  • Freed Israeli hostage’s British family concerned over gaunt appearance

On Friday, Hamas accused Israel of failing to abide by its commitment to boost the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal.

The head of Hamas’s media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf said “the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic due to Israeli obstruction”.

He said only 8,500 out of an expected 12,000 aid lorries had entered Gaza since 19 January, and medical equipment and shelter supplies had been deliberately delayed.

The allegation contradicts UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who on Thursday said 10,000 lorries with food, medicine and tents had crossed into Gaza since the start of the ceasefire.

Saturday’s exchange took place as US President Donald Trump continued to push his widely criticised proposal to move all Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop it as an international travel destination.

His announcement – for the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” – has complicated talks on the planned next stage of the ceasefire.

But Israeli negotiators are still expected to meet mediators in Qatar later on Saturday.

Trump’s idea was strongly condemned by Arab countries and the UN.

Modi’s BJP wins big in high-stakes Delhi election

Nikita Yadav, Zoya Mateen and Soutik Biswas

BBC News, Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party will form the government in Indian capital Delhi for the first time in 27 years as it scripted an impressive election victory.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won or is leading in 48 seats in the 70-member legislative assembly, while the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is ahead in 22 seats, according to data from the Election Commission of India (EC).

A party that wins more than the halfway mark of 35 seats can form the government.

“Development wins, good governance triumphs,” Modi wrote on X, adding his party would leave “no stone unturned” in developing Delhi .

In a video message on X, the AAP’s former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said he and his party “humbly accepted” the verdict of the people and congratulated the BJP on its win.

“I hope they live up to the expectations of the people who voted for them,” he said.

The election was a battle of prestige for both the BJP and AAP, given Delhi’s symbolic importance as the country’s capital.

The city, a federally-administered territory, had been governed by the AAP since 2013, with voters backing its strong record of welfarism. But the party and its leaders have faced several challenges recently, with leaders embroiled in corruption allegations which they have denied.

For the BJP, securing Delhi represents more than just electoral success – it marks a crucial foothold in the nation’s capital after being out of power there since 1998.

The party threw resources at the Delhi campaign, with Modi as well as Home Minister Amit Shah attending events.

Congress, the main opposition party at the national level, was also in the race, but did not win even one seat.

The party governed Delhi from 1998 to 2013, but was ousted over allegations of corruption that saw voters turn to AAP instead. It has failed to make a mark since.

Experts say the win in politically crucial Delhi will reinforce Modi’s popularity among Indian voters after his party lost its outright majority in last year’s general election.

The defeat is a big blow to the AAP, a much smaller party praised in its early years in power for focusing on improving education and health facilities in the city. It also governs Punjab state, but retaining Delhi would have been a triumph for the beleaguered party now facing questions about its future.

After more than a decade in power in Delhi, AAP’s appeal has waned, especially among the middle-class, which was once drawn to Kejriwal’s anti-corruption stance. Kejriwal, once a champion of the middle-class-led anti-corruption movement, had pivoted to becoming the party of the poor – it is not yet clear when the poor and Delhi’s struggling working class abandoned him.

Corruption allegations, the jailing of key leaders and Kejriwal’s own arrest damaged AAP’s campaign, creating a vacuum the BJP swiftly filled. Backed by vast resources and a powerful electoral machine, the BJP’s “double-engine” pitch – where state and federal governments are ruled by the same party – promised stability and better governance.

This is a historic victory – BJP’s first Delhi majority in almost 30 years. Its “Parivartan” (change) message struck a chord, but its political and financial muscle sealed the landslide win.

Fresh off wins in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra, this cements BJP’s resurgence after last year’s general election setback. With Delhi slipping away, the fragmented opposition is in disarray, while the BJP enters the next electoral cycle with a clear upper hand.

On Saturday, the biggest upsets for AAP included top leaders Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia losing in the New Delhi and Jangpura constituencies, respectively.

Incumbent Chief Minister Atishi managed only a narrow victory from the Kalkaji constituency.

More than 60% of eligible voters cast their ballots. Most exit polls had predicted an absolute majority for the BJP, although such predictions have gone wrong in the past.

Much of the BJP campaign targeted Kejriwal, an anti-graft activist, who – along with Sisodia – had been jailed over the past two years in a corruption case relating to a now-scrapped alcohol sales policy. Both leaders, who deny all the charges, separately got bail last year after spending months in jail.

Kejriwal has accused Modi’s party of carrying out a “political vendetta” against him and the AAP, which the BJP denies.

Delhi has a unique governance structure. Key decisions related to public order, police and land are taken by the lieutenant governor (LG) who is appointed by the federal government. The state legislature handles matters including education, health and public services.

This division has often caused friction between the federal government and state legislature when they are run by rival parties.

The power structure was also a reason why the election campaigning in Delhi was more focused on welfare than on political or identity issues, which play a larger role in elections elsewhere in the country.

The AAP and BJP campaigns both promised improvements to public schools and free healthcare services, as well as cash handouts to women.

Meanwhile, the BJP hoped for a boost from last week’s federal budget, which slashed income tax for the salaried middle class, a key voting bloc in the capital.

One topic, however, remained largely off the agenda during the bitter weeks-long campaign – Delhi’s perennial air pollution crisis, which affects the city of more than 30 million for much of the year.

The BJP had promised to reduce the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) by half by 2030 if it won, and other parties also made references to the crisis in their manifestos. But the issue didn’t dominate discussions or become a talking point in the election campaign.

Judge blocks Musk team access to Treasury Department records

Mallory Moench

BBC News
Watch: Ros Atkins on… Musk, Doge and the US government

A federal judge has blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans in Treasury Department records, according to court documents.

US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction on Saturday to prohibit access, ordering Musk and his team to immediately destroy any copies of records.

The move comes after 19 state attorneys general sued the Trump administration after Doge, a cost-cutting initiative led by Musk, was given access to the records.

They argued access for Musk, a “special government employee”, and Doge, which is not an official government department, violated federal law.

In a post on X, Musk called the ruling “absolutely insane”.

“How on Earth are we supposed to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money without looking at how money is spent?” he wrote.

The Democratic state attorneys general sued Trump, the Treasury Department and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday.

Engelmayer’s order, issued early on Saturday, said the states would “face irreparable” harm without immediate relief.

“That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” the order read.

The order restrains the defendants from granting access to Treasury Department records containing personally identifiable or confidential information to special government employees, political appointees, and other employees from outside the department.

The injunction restricts anyone else from accessing those records other than civil servants who need to do so for their work at the Bureau of Fiscal Services and have passed background checks.

The judge further ordered any person among those restricted to immediately destroy copies of records.

The conditions will remain in place until the next court hearing on 14 February.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was among the coalition of attorneys general who brought the lawsuit, said the Trump administration had given Musk and Doge “unprecedented access” to personal data.

“Over the past week, my office has heard from more than a thousand New Yorkers who were afraid they would lose their privacy and the critical funding their communities count on because of Musk and DOGE’s interference,” she said.

Tech titan and billionaire Musk has been heavily involved in upheaval during Trump’s second term, with Doge leading major cuts at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes billions of dollars of aid globally.

Watch: What Americans make of Trump’s first weeks in office

Woman’s deepfake betrayal by close friend: ‘Every moment turned into porn’

Tiffanie Turnbull

BBC News, Sydney

It was a warm February night when an ominous message popped into Hannah Grundy’s inbox in Sydney.

“I will just keep emailing because I think this is worthy of your attention,” the anonymous sender wrote.

Inside was a link, and a warning in bold: “[This] contains disturbing material.”

She hesitated for a moment, fearing it was a scam.

The reality was so much worse. The link contained pages and pages of fake pornography featuring Hannah, alongside detailed rape fantasies and violent threats.

“You’re tied up in them,” she recalls. “You look afraid. You’ve got tears in your eyes. You’re in a cage.”

Written in kitschy word art on some images was Hannah’s full name. Her Instagram handle was posted, as was the suburb she lived in. She would later learn her phone number had also been given out.

That email kicked off a saga Hannah likens to a movie. She was left to become her own detective, uncovering a sickening betrayal by someone close to her, and building a case which changed her life – and Australian legal standards.

‘Pure shock’

The web page was called “The Destruction of Hannah”, and at the top of it was a poll where hundreds of people had voted on the vicious ways they wanted to abuse her.

Below was a thread of more than 600 vile photos, with Hannah’s face stitched on to them. Buried in between them were chilling threats.

“I’m closing in on this slut,” the main poster said.

“I want to hide in her house and wait until she is alone, grab her from behind and… feel her struggle.”

It’s been three years now, but the 35-year-old school teacher has no trouble recalling the “pure shock” that coursed through when she and partner Kris Ventura, 33, opened the page.

“You immediately feel unsafe,” Hannah tells me, eyes wide as she grips a mug of peppermint tea in her living room.

Clicking through the website Kris had also found photos of their close friends, along with images depicting at least 60 other women, many also from Sydney.

The couple quickly realised the pictures used to create the deepfakes were from the women’s private social media accounts. And the penny dropped: this was someone they all knew.

Desperate to find out who, Hannah and Kris spent hours at the kitchen table, identifying the women, searching their social media friends lists for a common link, and methodically building a dossier of evidence.

Within four hours, they had a list of three potential suspects.

On it, but immediately discounted, was their close friend from university Andrew Hayler. The trio had met while working at a campus bar, and the staff there quickly formed deep friendships.

And Andy, as they called him – the supervisor – was the glue of the group.

He was considerate and affable, Hannah says – the kind of guy who looked out for women in the bar and made sure his female friends got home safely after a night out.

They all hung out regularly, went on holidays together, loved and trusted each other.

“I thought of him as a very close friend,” Hannah says.

“We were just so sure that he was a good person.”

But soon they’d whittled down the list to just one name: his.

Fear and delays

When Hannah woke the next morning and went to the police station, mingling with her shock and horror was a “naive” sliver of optimism.

“We thought they’d go grab him that afternoon,” Kris says with a wry smile.

Instead, Hannah says she was met with disdain.

She recalls one New South Wales Police officer asking what she’d done to Andy. At one stage they suggested Hannah simply ask him to stop. Later, they pointed to a picture of her in a skimpy outfit and said “you look cute in this one”, she says.

New South Wales Police declined to comment to the BBC on the specifics of Hannah’s case.

But she says the way her complaint was handled made her feel like she was making “a big deal out of nothing”.

“And for me, it felt quite life-changing,” says Hannah.

Any faith she still held that police would help quickly dwindled.

Amid delays, she turned to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, but under its powers as a regulatory body it could only offer help in taking the content down.

Desperate, the couple hired a lawyer and commissioned a digital forensics analyst to move things along.

In the meantime, to avoid tipping Andy off and to keep themselves safe, they retreated inwards.

“The world for you just gets smaller. You don’t speak to people. You don’t really go out,” Hannah says.

Intense fear and loneliness filled the void instead.

“We’d already had to suspend complete belief to understand that he’d done these things, so [the idea of] him actually coming to try and rape you or hurt you isn’t that much of a bigger stretch.”

The couple installed cameras all around their house and set up location tracking on Hannah’s devices. She began wearing a health watch 24/7, so someone would know if her heartbeat rose – or ceased.

“I stopped having the windows open because I was scared… maybe someone would come in,” Hannah explains.

“We slept with a knife in both of our bedside tables because we just thought: ‘What if?'”

Still feeling abandoned by police, Kris had taken on the burden of monitoring the site for the slightest sign of escalation towards Hannah and any of their friends – who, to protect the investigation, still did not know anything.

Guilt ate at the pair: “We had a constant battle about whether it was right to not tell them,” Hannah says.

At one point told the investigation had been suspended, Hannah and Kris forked out even more money for a detailed forensic report, and threatened to make a formal complaint to the police watchdog. All up, they spent over A$20,000 (£10,200; $12,400) trying to protect themselves and stop Andy.

Finally a new detective was assigned and within two weeks police were raiding Andy’s house. He admitted everything.

Filled with relief, then dread, Hannah began calling her friends to break the news.

“My stomach just dropped,” Jessica Stuart says, recalling the moment she learned what Andy had done to her photos.

“I felt really violated but… I don’t think I fully comprehended.”

For her, again, the sucker punch was that a friend who she loved like “family” was behind the crime. Andy had always appeared “so unassuming” and “really thoughtful” – someone she’d called for help through a difficult time.

“It’s been really hard to reconcile that those two people are actually the same person.”

A landmark case

The case was uncharted territory for Australia.

For at least a decade, experts have warned advances in technology would lead to a wave of AI crimes. But authorities have been caught on the back foot, leaving deepfake victims – overwhelmingly women – vulnerable.

At the time Andy was arrested in 2022, there was no offence for creating or sharing deepfake pornography in NSW, or anywhere else in Australia, and the country had never seen a case of this magnitude before.

The 39-year-old was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence – a low-level catch-all offence for many internet crimes – and Hannah was warned to keep her expectations low.

“We were prepared to go to court and for him to get a slap on the wrist,” she says.

But she and the 25 other women who decided to be part of the case were determined Andy be held accountable. One after the other, several gave crushing statements at his sentencing hearing last year.

“You didn’t just betray my friendship, but you shattered the sense of safety I used to take for granted,” Jess told the court. “The world feels unfamiliar and dangerous, I am constantly anxious, I have nightmares when I am able to sleep.

“Forming new friendships feels impossible, burdened by the constant question: ‘Could this person be like you?'”

When it came time for Andy to apologise to the women he’d targeted, Jess and Hannah couldn’t stomach being in the room. They walked out.

“There is nothing that he can say to me that makes it better, and I wanted him to know that,” Hannah says.

Andy told the court that creating the images had felt “empowering” as “an outlet” for a “dark” part of his psyche, but that he didn’t think they would cause real harm.

“I have really done a terrible thing and I am so very sorry,” he said.

Judge Jane Culver was not convinced of his remorse, saying while there was “some contrition”, he didn’t seem to understand the clearly “profound and ongoing” suffering that his “prolific” and “disturbing” offending had caused.

She sentenced Andy to nine years in jail – in what has been called a landmark decision.

“The gasp that went through the court… it was such a relief,” Jess says.

“It was the first time I felt like we had actually been listened to.”

Andy will be eligible for parole in December 2029, but has told the court he intends to challenge his sentence.

Nicole Shackleton, a law expert who researches technology and gender, told the BBC the “unprecedented” case set a surprising, and significant, legal standard for future cases.

The judge had recognised “this wasn’t merely something that happened online” and that such behaviour was “tied to offline violence against women”, said Dr Shackleton, from Melbourne’s RMIT University.

But Australia and other countries remain poor at regulating the use of AI and proactively investigating its misuse, experts like her argue.

Australia has recently criminalised the creation and sharing of deepfake pornography at a national level. But many other countries have legislation accused of containing loopholes, or do not criminalise deepfake pornography at all. In the UK, sharing it is an offence, but creating or soliciting it is not – though this is about to change.

And in the face of under-trained and under-resourced police forces, many victims like Hannah or private investigators – like the one who tipped her off – are left to be de facto detectives and regulators.

In a statement, NSW Police said investigations into AI crimes are a challenging, “resource and time intensive process”, and training has recently been beefed up “with the goal that every officer… can respond to these types of crimes effectively”.

The force also works with the eSafety Commissioner and tech companies to take down deepfake abuse, the statement added.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said removal of the distressing material is the top priority for most victim-survivors, and eSafety had “an extremely high success rate in achieving it”.

But eSafety does not have the punitive powers to pursue criminal investigations and penalties, she added in a statement to the BBC.

“You can have whatever laws you like, [but] if you have a police force that are incompetent…” Kris says, trailing off.

“We’re obviously angry at Andy. But it is also disgusting that the only way you get justice with something like this is if you’re two people in your 30s that can afford to bully the police.”

They’re determined for things to be different for future victims. In the past six months alone, two schoolboys in separate cases in NSW and Victoria have been reported to police for allegedly creating mass deepfake nudes of their classmates.

After several years of hell, Hannah is also trying to move on.

But Andy’s looming appeal threatens the hard work she’s done to rebuild her life and mental health.

Knees at her chest and feet tucked under her on the couch, she says Andy got the sentence he deserved.

“Because for me, and for the other girls, it is forever… they will always be on the internet,” she says.

She still pays for a service which scours the web for the pictures, and she worries about future friends, employers, students – her own children – finding them.

One of her biggest fears is that her best memories will never be reclaimed.

“You post things on Facebook and Instagram because they’re the happiest moments of your life. You get a dog, you buy a house, you get engaged and you post a photo.

“He had turned every single one of those moments for us into porn. And so when you see that photo… well, now I see myself getting raped.”