Hamas welcomes Australia’s joint statement on Gaza as Labor lashed at home
The chaotic scenes showed protesters clashing with police, as demonstrators called on Labor to take tougher action on Israel.
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Security and police have hauled about 20 pro-Palestinian demonstrators from inside Parliament House, following a day of tense protester activity which coincided with the opening of the 48th parliament.
Parliament House security and protective service officers were photographed escorting the members down the steps at parliament’s marble lobby, with the protesters screaming: “Free, free Palestine” and waving the Palestinian flag and keffiyeh scarfs.
In one photo, an officer was seen holding a woman wearing a keffiyeh scarf, who was seen filming the altercation on her phone.
Metres away, Governor-General Sam Mostyn was addressing parliamentarians and welcoming the re-election of Speaker Milton Dick.
The chaos forced police to close the Marble Lobby to the public.
The Australian Federal Police said 17 people at the afternoon protest were detained for the purpose of confirming their identities and then removed and would be issued formal banning notices.
One woman was arrested outside Parliament House by Protective Service Officers about 3pm. She is expected to be charged with failing to obey the direction of a Protective Service Officer.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, about 400 people attended a protest outside Parliament House.
Later, during Ms Mostyn’s address to parliamentarians in the Senate, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi was also seen holding a sign which read: “Gaza is starving, Words won’t feed them, Sanction Israel”.
The recently re-elected President of the Senate Sue Lines said Ms Faruqi’s use of props was “disorderly and disrespectful”.
“Particularly on the opening of the 48th Parliament which represents a pinnacle in our democracy.” Senator Lines said.
“Senator Faruqi you are a deputy leader, I expect you to show some leadership on behaviour in this chamber.”
Ms Lines said she would “take time to further consider this matter” and will return to the Senate with her decision.
Wong defends statement
The chaos comes as Foreign Minister Penny Wong defended the joint statement she signed along with 27 representatives from other countries which called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.
Senator Wong, speaking on Sky News, defended Australia against criticism from the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee who said the joint statement was “disgusting”.
“25 nations put pressure on Israel instead of savages of Hamas! Gaza suffers for 1 reason: Hamas rejects EVERY proposal. Blaming Israel is irrational,” Mr Huckabee posted on social media.
Senator Wong said Australia’s position was “where so many in the international community are”.
“We are clear in our condemnation of Hamas, we are clear in our condemnation of their ideology and their action, we call for the release of hostages,” she said.
“We also say that civilians must be protected, we say aid must be delivered unimpeded, and these are all important to the Australian people.”
Senator Wong said it was legitimate to criticise the actions of the Netanyahu government, but never legitimate for anti-Semitism and hatred to be allowed.
She said she believed US President Donald Trump “has the greatest chance, of any political leader of brokering a ceasefire”.
Hamas welcomes statement
Hamas has welcomed the joint statement, with the Yemen News Agency, which is run by Hamas’ Houthi allies, reporting that the group urged countries to take “concrete actions” to allow aid to flow freely to Gaza’s starving population.
The Palestinian Islamist group sparked the conflict after it killed 1200 in its surprise October 7 assault on Israel in 2023.
Its militants took hundreds more hostage as they retreated after slaughtering whole families in rural areas and carrying out a massacre at a music festival.
The attacks represent the single worst mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust.
“In a press release, Hamas praised the statement’s emphasis on allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza through the United Nations and humanitarian organisations, and its condemnation of the starvation policy pursued by the Israeli occupation, which it said constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” the agency said.
“Hamas noted that the condemnation of the killing of over 800 Palestinian civilians at aid distribution points controlled by US-Israeli mechanisms underscores the brutality of this system and its criminal goal of killing and humiliating Palestinians.
“It called for dismantling the mechanism and holding those responsible accountable.”
The agency went on to say Hamas “considered the joint statement ‘further international recognition of the wide-scale violations committed by the fascist occupation government against innocent civilians,’ including the deliberate starvation policy that has already claimed the lives of over 70 children and threatens a mass-death catastrophe due to famine”.
Australia and 27 countries have an urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 21, 2025
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. Together with partners, we condemn Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians seeking to access water and food.https://t.co/cfOtFovcLw
In a joint statement overnight, Australia stood with the likes of Canada, New Zealand and the UK in demanding that “the war in Gaza must end now”.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the statement said, signed by the 25 countries’ foreign ministers.
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.
“We condemn the drip-feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.
“It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.”
The countries went on to say Israel’s “denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable”.
“Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law,” the statement said.
Foreign journalists are not allowed into Gaza, forcing media to rely on death toll figures put out by the Hamas-run health ministry.
According to the ministry, more than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 21-month conflict – a count that stacks up with independent monitors and international aid workers, who have said children are suffering the most.
Protests at parliament
Chants of “free, free Palestine” rang through the courtyards of Parliament House as MPs and senators returned for the first sitting fortnight since the May 3 federal election.
The chants came from hundreds of protesters gathered on the lawns outside, waving Palestinian flags and banners calling for sanctions on Israel.
Under watchful eyes of the Australian Federal Police, the crowds were kept behind a barricade about midway down the grassy Federation Mall so as not to interfere with ceremonial cannon fire during the day.
Amnesty has also announced that demonstrators will hold a 24-hour vigil on the Parliament Lawns, beginning from Tuesday 3pm, with protesters set to brave the freezing overnights temperatures, forecast to hit 1C.
Tuesday’s protest kicked off with a small crowd protesting the killing of children in Gaza at the rear entrance to Parliament House, where Anthony Albanese and his son, Nathan, had walked up just a day earlier.
The protesters held what appeared to be shrouded baby dolls.
“28 children killed daily in Gaza,” one placard read.
The Prime Minister had to pass them on his way in to the opening of parliament.
‘A mistake’: Israel
The Israeli government has rejected the joint statement, saying it is “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas”.
“All statements and all claims should be directed at the only party responsible for the lack of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire: Hamas, which started this war and is prolonging it,” the Israeli foreign ministry.
“Instead of agreeing to a ceasefire, Hamas is busy running a campaign to spread lies about Israel.
“At the same time, Hamas is deliberately acting to increase friction and harm to civilians who come to receive humanitarian aid.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar took aim at the countries that issued the statement, saying the fact Hamas embraced their words “is the best proof” they made a mistake.
“If Hamas embraces you – you are in the wrong place,” he posted on social media.
“Hamas’s praise for the statement by the group of countries is the best proof of the mistake they made – part of them out of good intentions and part of them out of an obsession against Israel.
“We are at a very sensitive moment in the negotiations for the release of hostages and a ceasefire.”
If Hamas embraces you - you are in the wrong place.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 21, 2025
Hamas’s praise for the statement by the group of countries is the best proof of the mistake they made – part of them out of good intentions and part of them out of an obsession against Israel.
We are at a very sensitive moment… pic.twitter.com/ZLr7y0KdqD
Many of the hostages Hamas took have been released or rescued, but many have died.
At least 50 remain in captivity.
Similarly to Mr Sa’ar, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said on Tuesday the hostages need to be freed before peace could be achieved.
“No one wants this war to end more than Israel but that can only happen with the release of the 50 hostages and assurances that Hamas will not retain effective control over Gaza,” the council’s president Daniel Aghion said.
“There is immense suffering right now, which cannot be denied.
“The solution is the permanent removal of the terrorist force that started this war and their release of all hostages.
“Anything less would guarantee a return to war and further suffering in the near future.”
He said everyone involved needs “a ceasefire but we also need to ensure this is the last Israel-Hamas war”.
“World leaders should be calling for the immediate and unconditional surrender of Hamas, which is key to alleviating human suffering and needed by the Palestinians as much as by Israelis,” Mr Aghion said.
‘Disappointing’
In brief remarks to reporters on Tuesday morning, Sussan Ley said it was “very important that we understand where this conflict started and who has the opportunity and responsibility for ending it”.
“The first and most important thing to say about this issue is that there are still hostages in Gaza,” the Opposition Leader said.
“There are still hostages in tunnels, and a way to end the situation is for those hostages to be released by the terrorists Hamas, who control so much of the activity there.
“Of course, we want to see aid reach those who deserve it, but it is so important that Hamas that has control, often over the flow of that aid, but certainly over the ongoing completely unacceptable detention of those hostages act in the interests of the people of Gaza.”
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash used slightly stronger terms.
“It is disappointing that once again the Albanese government is supporting a statement attacking Israel,” she posted on social media.
“First and foremost any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas.
“Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages and laying down their weapons.
“This war began because of Hamas’s abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians.”
It is disappointing that once again the Albanese Government is supporting a statement attacking Israel.
— Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash (@SenatorCash) July 21, 2025
First and foremost any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas.
Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining…
She said it was “important that aid flows into Gaza” and that enough “quantities of food and other aid must be provided to the people”.
“However, the right system must be in place so that it can be distributed without Hamas intervening in the process,” Senator Cash said.
Originally published as Hamas welcomes Australia’s joint statement on Gaza as Labor lashed at home
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