Share and Follow
In Brief
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called on Israel and Hezbollah to respect the ceasefire.
- It comes after Israel said it carried out its largest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the war began.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has urged an immediate halt to Israeli military actions in Lebanon, expressing concern that the continued conflict endangers a “fragile” ceasefire between Iran and the United States, as well as the reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Wong’s remarks followed an announcement from Israel regarding its most extensive assault on Lebanon since the conflict began, which, according to the Lebanese health ministry, resulted in the deaths of at least 250 people.
This escalation occurred shortly after Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire with both the US and Israel, aimed at facilitating the resumption of oil trade through the strait.
While Iran maintains that Lebanon was included in this ceasefire agreement, the US and Israel have stated that Lebanon was not part of the deal.
On Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Israel would persist in targeting Hezbollah with “force, precision, and determination,” following the reported killing of senior official Ali Yusuf Harshi in Beirut.
“Whoever acts against Israeli civilians — will be struck. We will continue to strike Hezbollah wherever required, until we restore full security to the residents of the north,” he posted on X.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia “firmly believes” Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire.
“We want to see peace in this region and it will make a difference and I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon,” he said in a press conference on Thursday morning.
The latest attacks have prompted fears that the strait may now be closed again in response to the strikes. The ABC is reporting that despite the ceasefire, shipping in the strait remains largely at a standstill. It said a very small number of ships had gone through the strait.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the US had violated three clauses of the ceasefire agreement, including by attacking Lebanon, while foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said: “the ball is in the US court”.
Wong said the ceasefire was “fragile” and called for Israel and Hezbollah to respect it, while also emphasising the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“The ceasefire is fragile, but the world needs it to hold,” Wong told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning.
“In relation to Lebanon, we’ve said the ceasefire should be respected by both Israel and Hezbollah. There is a risk that continued conflict in Lebanon will risk the ceasefire itself across the region.
“We want to see the Strait of Hormuz open so that Australians and the world can see lower prices for fuel.”
In a joint statement with the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Jordan, Brazil, Colombia and Sierra Leone, Wong called for an urgent end to the fighting, describing the overnight attacks as “deeply concerning”.
Wong doesn’t have ‘confidence’ Strait of Hormuz is open
However, Wong repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the strait was currently open or closed on Thursday morning.
When asked directly on Channel Nine’s Today Show, she said there were “conflicting reports” and “commercial shipping needs the confidence for it to be open for them to go through”.
At a subsequent doorstop interview, she again declined to give a clear answer, saying the “situation is still very fluid”.
“What I would say is that what commercial shipping needs is confidence, and as yet, we don’t have that confidence. We want that confidence. We want the Strait open so fuel can flow.”
It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travels to Singapore on Thursday — one of Australia’s largest fuel suppliers — to meet with the country’s prime minister and discuss fuel supplies.
Opposition says Trump threats were meant to ‘de-escalate’
Opposition defence spokesperson James Paterson said Donald Trump’s warning that a “whole civilisation will die” unless the strait was reopened was ultimately aimed at ending the conflict.
“Speaking about it analytically and dispassionately, it’s clear that the US president has been threatening to escalate in order to de-escalate. And it may be the reason that there is a ceasefire agreement, although a very shaky one,” Paterson told ABC Radio National.
Paterson said he was “reluctant” to accept Iran’s claim that Lebanon was covered by the ceasefire deal, noting that Iran had “sponsored terrorist attacks on Australian soil”.
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.