Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used a trip to New Zealand to urge against Israeli troops entering Gaza City and extending the conflict in the Middle East.
The comments come in the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take “full military control” of the strip, including the occupied Palestinian territory’s heart of Gaza City.
Albanese and New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon today laid a wreath in Queenstown honouring ANZAC troops who lost their lives, as the world continued to grapple with how to prevent more loss of life in the Middle East.
“The idea that it can just be continued is completely unacceptable,” Albanese said.
In Gaza a 15-year-old was struck and killed as aid fell, while in Tel Aviv the families of hostages still held by Hamas marched on Israel’s military headquarters worried further expansion into Gaza would reduce the chances of hostages being freed.
“This concept that you’re weak against Hamas unless you’re cruel against the Palestinian people is a ridiculous proposition,” Home Affairs minister Tony Burke said.
“I look at the weight of history Gaza has never been successfully occupied or pacified by Israel so i’m not sure why we think it would be different now,” opposition Home Affairs spokesperson Andrew Hastie said.
But no further sanctions are on the horizon.
“We have already sanctioned appropriate ministers,” Albanese said.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Australia was not supplying weapons to Israel.
The Albanese government, like many of Australia’s allies, seems destined to announce formal recognition of Palestine in the coming weeks.
America will not, limiting the impact of the allied approach.
Health officials said that 20 Palestinians seeking aid were shot dead Saturday and 11 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, as the growing international criticism of Israel came with pleas to allow far more food to reach people in the besieged enclave.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the new adult deaths from malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours brought the total to 114 since it began counting such deaths in June. It said that 98 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with militants killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251.
The toll from hunger isn’t included in the ministry’s death toll of 61,300 Palestinians in the war. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, doesn’t distinguish between fighters or civilians, but says around half of the dead have been women and children. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties.
– Reported with Associated Press
