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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on Israel to “comply immediately with its obligations under international law”, saying its denial of aid and the killing of civilians seeking water and food “cannot be defended or ignored”.
The statement on the “situation in Gaza”, delivered on Friday, is Albanese’s strongest language so far on the suffering in the Palestinian enclave, which he called a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears,” Albanese said.
“The position of the Australian government is clear: every innocent life matters. Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.”
“This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives. Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving,” Albanese said.
He said Gaza is “in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe”.
“Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored,” the statement said.
Amir Maimon, Israel’s ambassador to Australia, criticised the statement, saying: “To condemn Israel for defending itself is wrong.”
“It deflects attention from the real perpetrators of this horror: Hamas,” said Maimon, who added “the international community must stop equivocating and start acting”.
Albanese said Australia condemned “the terror and brutality” of Hamas and reiterated calls for the immediate release of the remaining hostages it took in the October 7 attack, and continued support of all international efforts for a ceasefire.
Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
On Wednesday, it was reported 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, starved to death in 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors, linking this to a wave of hunger that persisted for months.
Since Hamas — the political and military group that rules Gaza — attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, sparking the nearly two-year-long war, at least 101 people, including 80 children, have died from hunger, with most fatalities occurring in the last few weeks, according to Palestinian officials.
Speaking after the appeal by 111 aid and human rights groups for governments to take action, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “I don’t know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it’s man-made, and that’s very clear.”
“This is because of the blockade,” he said.
The contentious US-based Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) has been delivering aid to Gaza since May. It bypasses traditional aid channels, including the UN, which says the GHF is neither impartial nor neutral.
Earlier this month, Israel’s military acknowledged Palestinians were harmed at aid distribution centres, saying new instructions had been issued following what it called “lessons learned”.
Albanese called on Israel to “comply immediately with its obligations under international law”.
“This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance,” he said.
“Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned.”
In their joint statement, the humanitarian and aid organisations also criticised the GHF and said that “tons” of aid were in warehouses just outside Gaza, but Israel’s government was restricting its entry.
The Israeli government has rejected such claims and accused the UN and its partners of not collecting the large quantities of food and other essentials that were cleared and waiting on the Gaza side of the border. It says aid is flowing into Gaza.
PM reaffirms commitment to two-state solution
Albanese’s statement on Friday did not reference Macron’s announcement that France will recognise Palestinian statehood. However, it reaffirmed the government’s position for an Israel-Palestinian two-state solution.
“Recognising the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own has long been a bipartisan position in Australia,” he said.
“The reason a two-state solution remains the goal of the international community is because a just and lasting peace depends upon it,” Albanese said.
“Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within secure and internationally recognised borders.”
The prime minister’s statement comes in the same week Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined more than 20 of her global counterparts in a joint statement that called for an immediate end to Israel’s violence in Gaza and condemned the denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians.
That coincided with the first sitting day of parliament following the May federal election, which was marked by pro-Palestinian protests on the lawns outside who called on the government to take more action against Israel, including imposing sanctions.
Some politicians, including Mehreen Faruqi, demanded that too. In a silent protest in the upper house, the Greens senator held a sign that read “Gaza is starving. Words won’t feed them. Sanction Israel” during Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s address.
Albanese ‘fails to place any blame on Hamas’
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash said while the Coalition has “strong concerns” about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, it was “disappointing” that Albanese’s statement “once again fails to place any blame on Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, for the delays in aid reaching the people of Gaza”.
“The Coalition acknowledges that the delay in aid entering Gaza is unacceptable and that the Israeli government needs to urgently work with international bodies to allow aid to flow freely to those that need it,” Cash said.
“However, the right system must be in place so that it can be distributed without Hamas intervening in the process.”
In her statement, Cash did not detail how Hamas was delaying aid reaching Gaza nor how it was intervening.
Overnight, Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from the latest ceasefire talks for consultations, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of failing to act in good faith.
Hamas said it was surprised by Witkoff’s remarks, adding the group’s position had been welcomed by mediators and had opened the door to reaching a comprehensive agreement.
