Labor figures demand Palestinian statehood as PM criticises Israel over famine in Gaza

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has joined a chorus of global condemnation decrying the starvation of children in Gaza as world leaders consider taking urgent steps, including air drops, to ramp up the delivery of aid to the beleaguered region.

Prominent Labor figures are also urging Australia to join French President Emmanuel Macron by recognising a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit in September in a bid to create momentum for a two-state solution.

Malnourished Yazan Abu Ful, 2, sits at his family home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.Credit: AP

Pictures have emerged this week showing children facing life-threatening malnutrition in the enclave that has continuously come under attack from Israel as a response to the massacre of an estimated 1200 people by Hamas in Israel in October 2023.

“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears,” Albanese said in a statement on Friday that contained some of his strongest comments since the conflict began.

“Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.

“Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.

“We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.

“This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their life-saving work safely and without hindrance.”

Albanese’s comments came hours after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement describing the suffering in Gaza as “unspeakable and indefensible”.

“While the situation has been grave for some time, it has reached new depths and continues to worsen,” Starmer said. “We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas appeared to collapse this week, with Israel and the United States recalling negotiators from truce talks and blaming the designated terror group that has governed Gaza for more than a decade for failing to take the negotiations seriously.

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas’ latest response showed “a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza”, adding that “we will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is visiting Australia, said the UK and Jordanian governments were working on options to alleviate the suffering in Gaza, including the use of air drops.

The Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is distributing aid from limited sites in the territory, but hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to access food from its locations.

On Tuesday, Israeli prime minister’s office spokesman David Mencer denied there was a “famine created by Israel” in Gaza and blamed Hamas for creating “man-made shortages” by looting aid trucks.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said condemnation of Israel deflected attention from Hamas’s responsibility for the conflict.

“Pressure must be placed where it belongs, on Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for this war and suffering it continues to inflict,” he said.

Macron announced France would become the first G7 nation – a grouping which also includes the United States, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada – to recognise Palestinian statehood.

French officials said they were confident other nations would join France by recognising Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” he said.

“We must also guarantee the demilitarisation of Hamas, and secure and rebuild Gaza.”

Albanese said Australia remained committed to a two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state, indicating his government could be prepared to follow France’s decision. His government has not yet committed to doing so, however.

“Recognising the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own has long been a bipartisan position in Australia,” Albanese said.

“Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within secure and internationally recognised borders.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said France’s decision rewarded terror and “risks creating another Iranian proxy”, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said France’s decision was “reckless” and served Hamas propaganda.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had made clear since April last year that Australia no longer believes recognition of Palestine must come at the end of a peace process, saying that a two-state solution was “the only hope of peace and breaking the cycle of violence and ensuring the security and aspirations and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians”.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and UK Defence Secretary John Healey in Sydney on Friday.Credit: AAP

Former Labor frontbencher Ed Husic, who lost his spot in cabinet following the May election, urged the government to quickly recognise Palestine.

“The time is now: we should move to recognise Palestine now, standing alongside France,” Husic told the ABC, adding that Labor’s policy platform supports Palestinian statehood.

Former foreign minister Bob Carr, a strong supporter of Palestine, said: “We should follow France and recognise Palestine in line with Labor policy and the near unanimous opinion of ALP rank and file and voter base.”

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said Australia should go further than recognition by sanctioning Israel and implementing a two-way arms embargo.

“Recognition without consequences for Israel only entrenches the status quo of genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation,” he said.

Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, called Albanese’s latest statement “disturbing”.

Credit: Matt Golding

“At a time when all mediators agree that Hamas is the obstacle to a ceasefire agreement which would end the humanitarian crisis there, statements such as the one he issued today only encourage Hamas to hold out, convinced it is weakening Israel by doing so,” he said.

Opposition foreign affairs secretary Michaelia Cash said: “It is disappointing that Prime Minister Albanese’s statement about Gaza once again fails to place any blame on Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, for the delays in aid reaching the people of Gaza.

“Any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas. Hamas and its allies have tried to disrupt the flow of aid into Gaza and have stolen humanitarian aid for their own purposes.”

Cash added that “the delay in aid entering Gaza is unacceptable and that the Israeli government needs to urgently work with international bodies to allow aid to flow freely to those that need it”.

With Michael Koziol, AP.

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