logo
Dire situation in Gaza prompts stronger Australian tone

Dire situation in Gaza prompts stronger Australian tone

Perth Now3 days ago
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ramped up calls for a ceasefire "needed desperately" as starvation ravages Gazan children.
Australia has strengthened its language against Israel for blocking aid and breaching international law since the war started on October 7, 2023, after designated terror group Hamas launched an attack against Israel.
AID
* December 13, 2023: "Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access must be increased and sustained".
* July 26, 2024: "Sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation".
* July 25, 2025: "Israel's denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored".
CIVILIANS
* October 26, 2023: "We are concerned at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and call on all actors to ensure the provision of humanitarian supplies to populations in need".
* December 13, 2023: "Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected ... the price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians".
* February 15, 2024: "With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating. We urge Israel not to go down this path".
* July 26, 2024: "The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue".
* July 25, 2025: "Every innocent life matters. Every Israeli. Every Palestinian".
CEASEFIRE
* October 26, 2023: "We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".
* December 13, 2023: "Support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire ... Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields and lay down its arms".
*January 16, 2025: "Australia welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire and hostage agreement in Gaza ... We urge all parties to respect its terms and safeguard a lasting peace".
* July 25, 2024: "An immediate ceasefire is needed desperately".
ISRAEL
* October 26, 2023: "Our countries will support Israel as it defends itself and its people against such atrocities. We affirm Israel's inherent right to defend itself".
* July 25, 2025: "We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law".
PALESTINE
* October 26, 2023: "We continue to support Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own and consider a two-state solution".
* January 16, 2025: "We hope (a ceasefire) will allow the Palestinian people the opportunity to rebuild, reform their governance and pursue self-determination".
* July 25, 2025: "The reason a two state solution remains the goal of the international community is because a just and lasting peace depends upon it".
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Labor recognising Palestinian statehood would be a ‘mistake'
Labor recognising Palestinian statehood would be a ‘mistake'

Sky News AU

time16 minutes ago

  • Sky News AU

Labor recognising Palestinian statehood would be a ‘mistake'

The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan discusses Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walking both sides of the street on Gaza and Palestinian statehood. 'I think you have to view this all through the lens of domestic politics and especially managing the left and managing the Labor Party,' Mr Sheridan told Sky News host James Macpherson. 'The current worry the government has of not having another bit of trouble with the Trump administration, I think, recognising a Palestinian state would be a mistake.'

Starmer to press Trump on Gaza, trade in Scotland talks
Starmer to press Trump on Gaza, trade in Scotland talks

News.com.au

time16 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

Starmer to press Trump on Gaza, trade in Scotland talks

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press Donald Trump on ending "the unspeakable suffering" in Gaza, and also talk trade, when they meet Monday at the US president's golf resort in Scotland, Downing Street said. The talks will come a day after the US and the European Union reached a landmark deal to end a transatlantic standoff over tariffs and avert a full-blown trade war. Starmer is expected to push Trump on urging a revival of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as a hunger crisis deepens in the besieged Palestinian territory. The meeting at Turnberry, southwestern Scotland, comes as European countries express growing alarm at the situation in Gaza, and as Starmer faces domestic pressure to follow France's lead and recognise a Palestinian state. The leaders will also discuss implementing a recent UK-US trade deal, as well as efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine, according to a British government statement issued late Sunday. But it is the growing threat of starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza that is set to dominate the talks, on the third full day of Trump's trip to the land where his mother was born. Starmer is expected to "welcome the president's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza," a Downing Street spokesperson said. - 'Reject hunger' - Trump told reporters Sunday that the United States would give more aid to Gaza but he wanted other countries to step up as well. "It's not a US problem. It's an international problem," he said, before embarking on crunch trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the resort south of Glasgow. He also accused Hamas of intercepting aid, saying "they're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it." Starmer and Trump's meeting comes after the UK PM backed efforts by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to air drop aid to Gaza. Humanitarian chiefs remain sceptical those aid drops can deliver enough food safely for the area's more than two million inhabitants. On Sunday, Israel declared a "tactical pause" in fighting in parts of Gaza and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle the hunger crisis. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community on Monday to fight against hunger around the world. "Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war," he told a UN conference. - Tariffs - Last week, the United States and Israel withdrew from Gaza truce talks, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of blocking a deal -- a claim rejected by the Palestinian militant group. Starmer held talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, after which the UK government said they agreed "it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace". But the Downing Street statement made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his country will recognise in September. More than 220 MPs in Britain's 650-seat parliament, including dozens from Starmer's own ruling Labour party, have demanded that he too recognise Palestinian statehood. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told ITV on Monday that "every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state" and that it was "a case of when, not if." Number 10 said Starmer and Trump would also discuss "progress on implementing the UK-US trade deal", which was signed on May 8 and lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force. Trump said Sunday the agreement was "great" for both sides but Reynolds told BBC Breakfast on Monday that "it wasn't job done" and cautioned not to expect any announcement of a resolution on issues such as steel and aluminium tariffs. After their meeting the two leaders will travel together to Aberdeen in Scotland's northeast, where the US president is expected to formally open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on his five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy, and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests. pdh-jwp/jkb/jm

‘Innocent life matters': The photographs of children that captured the world's conscience
‘Innocent life matters': The photographs of children that captured the world's conscience

Sydney Morning Herald

timean hour ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

‘Innocent life matters': The photographs of children that captured the world's conscience

Warning: Graphic content The photograph of an emaciated child broke Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's heart. 'For anyone with any sense of humanity, you have to be moved by that, and you have to acknowledge that every innocent life matters, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian,' Albanese said. 'A one-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter, and the civilian casualties and death in Gaza is completely unacceptable,' he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. 'That boy isn't challenging Israel's right to existence, and nor are the many who continue to suffer from the unavailability of food and water.' The image of Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq being cradled by his mother Hedaya al-Muta'wi, captured on July 21 and distributed by the photographic network Getty, evoked previous pictures that shocked the world. There is the photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc running from a napalm attack in 1972 during the Vietnam War, Steve McCurry's portrait of Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula in 1984, and a haunting image of a vulture stalking a Sudanese child amid widespread famine in 1993. In each case, the ethics behind the photograph have become disputed. Was the image exploitative? Should the photographer have intervened? What toll did it take on the individual who became a symbol for wider suffering? The Israeli embassy in Australia went further on Monday. Deputy head of mission, Amir Meron, told journalists that there was no starvation in Gaza and that 'false pictures' of the situation in the territory were spreading. 'This is a false campaign that is being [led] by Hamas, taking advantage of sick children in order to show a false claim and false presentation of hunger and starvation in the Gaza strip,' Meron said, without specifically referring to the image of al-Matouq.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store