Labor works to cool fear of Israel-Lebanon war as Wong lambasts Israel

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has demanded Israel stop killing innocent Palestinians as her government works to tamp down a potential boilover in local tensions if Israel and Lebanon go to war.

As Israel’s parliament voted overwhelmingly against Palestinian statehood, Wong used some of her strongest language to date to condemn Israeli Defence Force strikes that Hamas-run health authorities said had killed 50 Palestinians.

Penny Wong in the Senate earlier this month.Credit: James Brickwood

The recently designated humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi was attacked on Saturday and another attack hit a UN-run school housing displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp on Monday.

“Australia condemns the unacceptable deaths of innocent civilians as a result of Israel’s operations in this last week, including many near schools,” Wong said on X on Thursday, as Labor urged Israel to accept a US-led ceasefire deal thwarted partly by Hamas’ refusal to release hostages.

“Australia has been calling for a ceasefire for eight months. This must stop. Civilians, including women and children, are caught in the middle. They must be protected. Hostages must be released and humanitarian access must be increased.”

Immigration Minister Andrew GilesCredit: Joe Armao

This masthead has learnt of government efforts to support Australia’s Lebanese community as the prospect of an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war looms as troops continue to exchange fire along the northern border with Lebanon.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles hosted a roundtable with Lebanese community leaders to discuss how the government would help evacuate Australians or their families in Lebanon in the case of war breaking out.

The government is worried about the more than 15,000 Australians in Lebanon, many visiting during the northern hemisphere summer, and the prospect of Beirut airport closing as it has in previous conflicts, forcing sea evacuations. The government upped its “do not travel” warning this month.

As early as last October, senior department officers of Foreign Affairs and Trade called for Australians to leave Lebanon, fearing a repeat of evacuations during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

In 2006, DFAT had three weeks to move 5100 Australians and 1200 foreign nationals by ferry, plane and overland through Syria. But today, overland travel through Syria is not possible, airfields are an unknown, and there are fewer ferries available in the eastern Mediterranean.

Government figures not authorised to speak on the record are worried the local Lebanese community, already disturbed by Israel’s behaviour in Gaza, would react ferociously to an Israeli offensive in Lebanon, heightening local tensions and inflaming anti-Israel sentiment. In the 2021 census, about 248,000 Australians reported Lebanese ancestry.

While many Lebanese Australians do not share Hezbollah’s Shiite strand of Islam – being either Sunni or Christian – government figures believe an Israel-Lebanon war would upset communities across the diaspora.

Supporters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group raise their fists and cheer, as they listen to a speech by Hassan Nasrallah.Credit: AP

On Wednesday, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to widen its target areas in Israel if its military did not stop striking civilian areas in Lebanon. Hezbollah is heavily armed and regularly strikes Israel.

Nasrallah delivered a televised speech marking Ashura, a Shiite day of mourning, citing towns in southern Lebanon where he claimed Israel had recently killed civilians. “The resistance missiles will target new Israeli settlements that were not targeted before,” he said.

The Greens have consistently called on Labor to use stronger language to criticise Israel and to sanction its government, as a new political front opens up in Labor heartland, with pro-Palestine independents threatening to challenge Labor MPs. The Coalition, on the other hand, has portrayed Labor as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and too harsh in its attacks on a long-term partner of Australia fighting a listed terror outfit.

Wong and her cabinet colleagues are gradually toughening the government’s stance towards Israel as Labor MPs push for bold denouncements of its government, according to three government sources. This included summoning the Israeli ambassador last month to warn of the consequences of a war with Lebanon.

Labor MP Julian HillCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

The sources said there was ongoing pressure inside the government to financially sanction extremist Israeli settlers or companies that supported settlements in the West Bank. Melbourne MP Julian Hill advocated this action earlier this year.

Cabinet sources said there was minimal debate or pushback when Wong and the party leadership suggested steps to toughen Labor’s position, including in key United Nations votes.

Several countries including the United States, Britain and New Zealand have recently imposed sanctions and travel restrictions on extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, but the Albanese government has so far declined to do so.

Wong’s tough talk was matched by Education Minister Jason Clare, whose western Sydney seat has a large Muslim population.

Education Minister Jason ClareCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I condemn the killing of any innocent people, whether it’s the bombing of a hospital in Ukraine or a school in Gaza. Death is death,” Clare said in a press conference said last week. “My community wants the killing to stop, and I want the killing to stop.”

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