Albanese responds to Gaza ceasefire agreement, while Dreyfus meets families of hostages

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Key Points

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia welcomes the Gaza ceasefire deal.
He said there must be no place for Hamas in Gaza’s future governance.
The ceasefire deal will come into effect on 19 January if agreed to by the Israeli cabinet.

Australia has welcomed , with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling it a “constructive step towards peace and stability in the region”.

The will come into effect on Sunday if agreed to by the Israeli cabinet.

It outlines the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the besieged Gaza Strip and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The announcement comes during , during which he is set to meet Israeli officials as well as visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Today must mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

“We hope it will allow the Palestinian people the opportunity to rebuild, reform their governance which is most necessary to pursue self-determination,” Albanese said.

He said Australia is focused on “what Palestinians want” which is to be able to live in Gaza and the West Bank and to be able to live with peace, security, and prosperity.

Gazans have been through “an awful time”, he acknowledged, as officials report tens of thousands of people have been killed.

“Hamas is the enemy of the Palestinian people, not just the enemy of the state of Israel. I think that the first priority and part of this deal is an increase in humanitarian aid,” Albanese said.

Australia “remains unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas’ atrocities on 7th October,” he said, “and of the ideology that drives this terrorist organisation”.

Israel has bombarded Gaza since in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.

More than , according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is in its entirety designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.

Albanese said Hamas must play no role in the future governance of Gaza.

He hoped the ceasefire deal will “lower tensions” in Australia amid .

“I certainly hope and have consistently called for the lowering of temperature here. Australians, I believe, wanted to see the hostages released. They want to see an end to conflict. They also don’t want conflict brought here,” he said.

Earlier, Dreyfus wrote on X that he had met with two people in Tel Aviv who had family members taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.

“467 days later they speak for all of us when they demand the return of all hostages to their families,” Dreyfus said. “The ceasefire must make that a reality.”

Nasser Mashni, president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, said there is a “sense of relief” around the ceasefire deal.

“Every Palestinian will be thankful for the opportunity for the blood to stop flowing,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

“When we talk about the situation and what gave rise to October 7, so often in the discourse, nobody spoke about October 6 or the 76 years of Palestinian repression before that,” Mashni said.

“What we’re hopeful is that this ceasefire will enable a chance for people to breathe but then for the world to recognise there is no military solution to a political problem.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said “everybody” wanted peace in the Middle East and for the hostages to be returned.

“We want to make sure that the remainder of the hostages are released, if they’re still alive,” Dutton told reporters on Thursday. “Let’s wait to see what happens in relation to those commitments and whether they’re honoured before we start to talk about next steps.”

‘Hoping very much this will be a permanent end’

Independent MP Monique Ryan said she hopes this will be a “real and sustained permanent ceasefire and an end to what has been a horrific humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East”.

“The details are still emerging, but I think we’re all holding our fingers and hoping very much that this will be a permanent end to what has been a terrible time for everyone who’s been involved and everyone who’s been looking on globally,” Ryan told Seven’s Sunrise program.

Senator and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma told Sunrise he “wouldn’t assume the deal would lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza”.

“It will importantly lead to the release of the hostages, including women, young children and the elderly and sick who have been held in terrible conditions for 15 months, and it will allow more humanitarian assistance to get to the Gazan population which has been suffering through this conflict as well.”