‘Beyond comprehension' for Israel to claim there is no starvation crisis in Gaza, Australia PM says
Australia's prime minister also raised concerns about Israel restricting journalists from visiting the besieged Palestinian territory. It comes as the Greens party mounts a parliamentary push for the government to level further sanctions on members of the Israeli government.
Albanese criticised the claims from the Israeli government in comments to the Labor caucus room this morning. He referred to comments from Netanyahu, reported overseas, as well as reports from Australian media outlets about comments from the deputy Israeli ambassador, Amir Meron.
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Meron reportedly told journalists in a briefing on Monday, to which Guardian Australia was not invited, that Israel believed photos of starving Palestinians were 'false pictures' from a 'false campaign that is being [led] by Hamas'.
'We don't recognise any famine or any starvation in the Gaza Strip,' Meron reportedly said.
In comments to the Labor party meeting on Tuesday, Albanese referred to such claims as 'beyond comprehension'.
Albanese also told the party room that while there should be a 'caveat' on any health information shared by Hamas, he noted that Israel had blocked many journalists from entering Gaza to report first-hand on the conflict and the humanitarian situation on the ground.
The Israeli embassy in Canberra was contacted for comment.
Albanese's comments came days after he accused Israel of breaching international law in restricting aid deliveries into Gaza.
'Quite clearly it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered which was a decision that Israel made in March,' Albanese told the ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.
Dozens of Palestinians have died of hunger in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by the UN and other humanitarian organisations to Israel's blockade of almost all aid into the territory.
Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, said on Monday that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The US president, Donald Trump, told Israel to allow 'every ounce of food' into Gaza, saying there is 'real starvation' in the region.
Trump, in a press conference with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: 'Those children look very hungry … That's real starvation; I see it and you can't fake that.'
Coalition senator James Paterson told Sky News he was concerned about the 'very dire' humanitarian situation in Gaza, and that Israel faced losing international support over its stance.
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'Although I'm a strong supporter of Israel and I strongly support their campaign to dismantle Hamas and free the 50 hostages or bodies of deceased hostages that Hamas is still holding, I also accept that as the military power in the region which has effective control of Gaza, Israel does have a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is fed, and they need to do all reasonable steps to make sure that that's the case,' he said.
'It is doing harm, in my judgment, to Israel's international standing that they so far, in recent months, have not been able to do that. And I welcome the changes in policy and approach that have occurred over the last couple of days of facilitating the flow of further aid and further food into Gaza.'
The Greens will call for Australia to implement additional sanctions on Israel on Tuesday, matching the measures applied over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The plan for so-called autonomous sanctions would target members of the Netanyahu government and other key decision-makers, limiting their travel and use of financial assets.
Australia has sanctioned about 1,400 people in Russia over the war in Ukraine, but only a small number related to the war in Gaza. In June, Australia joined countries including the UK and New Zealand to sanction far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Greens will also seek sanctions to stop the export of goods and materials from Australia to Israel, including arms. The party is critical of the Albanese government for not blocking exports of key parts for fighter jets, manufactured in Australia and assembled in Israel.
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