Australia admonishes Israeli, backs US Gaza aid call
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has condemned the number of civilian deaths in Gaza and backed an American ultimatum to Israel to force a rise in the flow of aid.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, December 5, 2023. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Australia has admonished Israel over civilian deaths in northern Gaza as the international community demands more humanitarian aid for the besieged strip.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has backed a United States ultimatum to Israel demanding it let more aid into Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis, or face the withdrawal of American military support.
While Australia doesn’t have the same lever to pull – because it doesn’t directly export weapons to Israel – Senator Wong has asked Australian officials to convey the federal government’s concerns directly to their Israeli counterparts.
“Australia condemns the killing of innocent civilians by Israel in recent operations in Gaza,” she wrote on social media platform X.
“The humanitarian situation in northern Gaza is unacceptable. Israel must allow essential supplies to flow.”
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham also backed the US ultimatum saying “it is critical to see that humanitarian assistance flow into Gaza”.
Most of the enclave has been levelled by Israeli bombardment, and hundreds of thousands face catastrophic hunger as supplies are limited, the United Nations and humanitarian groups say.
Senator Wong said Australia supported “all efforts by our partner countries to ensure humanitarian assistance gets to those in need” as she reiterated calls for a ceasefire and for listed terror group Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
Palestine’s envoy in Australia Izzat Abdulhadi used the announcement to call for Australia to join an international court case assessing whether Israel is breaking international law and causing genocide.
South Africa launched the case – which Israel rejects – in the International Court of Justice and a provisional ruling ordered Israel to take steps to avoid a genocide and increase humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Joining the case would be “in line with international law”, which Australia says it respects, the Palestinian representative said.
It also wouldn’t set a precedent as Australia intervened with more than 30 other nations in a case against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Asked whether Israel was complying with international law, Senator Wong said “ultimately those are decisions that international tribunals make” but reiterated her expectation Israel comply with laws protecting aid workers and civilians.
“My job as the foreign minister for this country is not to sit as the international tribunal but to advocate for … innocent civilians, and that’s what we’re doing,” she told ABC radio on Wednesday.
Mr Abdulhadi said Australia expediting its recognition of a Palestinian state was crucial “to send a message to Israel to stop these atrocities”.
Israel maintains any recognition would be seen as rewarding terrorism after Hamas killed 1200 people and took 250 more hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Senator Wong has brought up the timeline for a Palestinian state to be recognised during the peace process to establish a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, rather than at the end of it.
Amnesty International Australia has demanded Israel rescind evacuation orders for northern Gaza and immediately allow unhindered humanitarian access as fears grow a siege on supplies will further harm hundreds of thousands of people.
Israeli airstrikes and operations hit a hospital and sent the tents of displaced Palestinians nearby ablaze, burning people alive in the middle of the night.
It killed at least four people and injured dozens more.
Israel says it only targets militants and has expanded operations in Gaza’s north to stop Hamas from regrouping.
Hitting hospitals and refugee tents added to the “massacre upon massacre and horror upon horror”, Amnesty’s Palestinian Territory spokesman Mohamed Duar said.
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By: Dominic Giannini/AAP
