Hamas threat to be ‘removed’, envoy says

Israel’s top diplomat in Australia says his country will dislodge the Hamas terrorist group from Gaza and eliminate its military capabilities.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed opposition calls for him to travel to Tel Aviv to express Australia’s solidarity with the country. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Israel’s top diplomat in Australia says his country will dislodge the Hamas terrorist group from Gaza and eliminate its military capabilities as Israeli forces prepare for a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said the country’s troops would “make maximum effort to resolve the hostage situation”, while trying to minimise civilian casualties.

He said Israel had no wish to engage with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants on its northern front, “but is fully prepared for the scenario and will respond forcefully” to any attack.

Foreshadowing an attack on Gaza, Mr Maimon declared on Friday: “Israel will act to depose the Hamas regime, destroy its military capabilities and remove the terrorist threat posed to Israel from the Gaza Strip, and will make maximum effort to resolve the hostage situation.

“Israel will protect its borders and its citizens.”

His statement came after Joe Biden urged the American people to stand by Israel, and Anthony Albanese dismissed opposition calls for him to travel to Tel Aviv to express Australia’s solidarity with the country.

The Prime Minister, who is trying to prevent a Labor split on Israel, suggested the trip would not be safe. He said the conflict was “complex” and the government’s priority ­was maintaining ­“harmonious community” relations in Australia.

But tensions within the party on the war continued to fray, as Jewish MP Josh Burns disputed claims by Labor colleagues Ed Husic and Anne Aly that 2.3 million Gaza residents were being “collectively punished” for the crimes of Hamas.

“(It’s) a response to a terrorist organisation who killed 1300 ­people and a terrorist organisation … that has not terrorised just ­Israeli people, but also Palestinian people,” Mr Burns told the ABC on Friday.

Police in Sydney will be on alert this weekend after a pro-Palestine rally was given the green light, with Premier Chris Minns vowing “zero tolerance” for hate speech at the event.

A handful of anti-Israel protesters blocked access to the ­secretive joint Australia-US military facility at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, on Friday, with one activist locking himself to a barrel splattered with red paint. The protesters were removed by the fire brigade.

Israeli ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Mr Maimon confirmed the death toll in Israel from the Hamas attack a fortnight ago now stood at more than 1400, with more than 4300 wounded and 200 missing or captured. Of the dead, 225 were foreigners, while 77 foreigners were still missing.

Mr Maimon noted a “long list of world leaders and senior officials have visited Israel in the past two weeks”, including Mr Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham reiterated the Coalition’s call for Mr Albanese to visit Israel before or after his trip to the US next week, to signal Australia’s support for the country.

But Mr Albanese, whose ­request to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the terrorist attacks has so far gone unanswered, suggested the opposition was playing politics.

He said Israel was “not a ­secure area”, and suggested the Biden and Sunak trips had been linked to the US and UK’s roles as permanent members of the UN Security Council.

“Our priority has been to engage and I’ve engaged,” Mr Albanese said.

“I’ve met personally with the Israeli ambassador. I had him to my residence and had a discussion. I’ve had discussions with leaders of the Palestinian community, leaders of the Jewish community here in Australia as well.”

As another Australian repatriation flight from Israel landed in Sydney on Friday morning with 99 passengers aboard, Lebanese Muslim Association secretary Gamel Kheir lashed the government for failing to evacuate citizens trapped in Lebanon.

He said Lebanese-Australians felt like “second-class citizens”.

“Australians in Israel and ­Lebanon have exactly the same right to expect their government to extract them out of this situation,” he said.

“Why is it that the government so quickly evacuated Israel-based Australians – as they should – but failed to extract those in Lebanon, where there are 15,000 Australians?”