Australians in Lebanon warned: ‘Get out now’

Foreign Affairs officials have warned more 15,000 Australians in Lebanon to ‘leave now’ because the government may not be able to evacuate them if the war in Israel spreads.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Foreign Affairs officials have told more than 15,000 Australians in Lebanon to “leave now” or face being trapped in the country if the war in Israel spreads, after fewer than 400 registered with the government for possible support.

The warning came as Foreign Minister Penny Wong pushed back against Greens’ demands for the government to condemn Israel’s siege of Gaza as a war crime, while calling for a “humanitarian pause” to get lifesaving essentials into the Palestinian enclave.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that they feared a repeat of the consular crisis of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, which was “seared into the minds” of those involved.

Deputy secretary Craig Mac­lachlan said only a fraction of the Australians in Lebanon had registered with DFAT, despite a “do not travel” warning to the country and fears that Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorists could open a new front in the war on Israel’s northern border.

He said in 2006, DFAT had helped more than 6200 Australians and foreign nationals to get out of Lebanon, but overland options to exit the country through Syria were no longer an option because of security threats in that country.

Senator Wong said the numbers of Australians in Lebanon who might require evacuation was “a much bigger, more challenging proposition” than it had been ­previously.

Smoke rises from hills above the southern Lebanese village of Maroun Al Ras during retaliatory Israeli artillery shelling on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

As the committee met, she announced a new $15m in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza to be distributed by international agencies. Senators heard the funds would purchase essential supplies including food, water, medical care and body bags for the dead.

Nearly three weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, DFAT said 1930 Australians had been supported to leave Israel on assisted flights. Further repatriation efforts had been put on hold because of tapering demand.

Officials are in contact with 79 Australian citizens, permanent residents and family members of Australians trapped inside Gaza, amid intense diplomatic efforts to allow their passage into Egypt.

Senator Wong told the committee that “the way Israel exercises its right to defend itself matters”, saying the hopes of peace in the region “will recede even further” if Palestinian civilians suffer for “the outrages perpetrated by Hamas”.

“We call for humanitarian pauses on hostilities so food, water, medicine and other essential assistance can reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety,” she said.

“And we note that many of our closest partners have now made similar calls.”

Senator Wong rebuffed a call by Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to brand Israel’s actions as a “textbook example of collective punishment”, and therefore a war crime. “Why won’t your government condemn this crime against humanity?” he said.

Senator Wong replied: “They’re your words; I’ll use my words, and I have responded.”

DFAT acting chief counsel Marie-Charlotte McKenna told the committee that “sieges are not in themselves prohibited under international humanitarian law”.

“However, international humanitarian law does provide for the facilitation of humanitarian assistance, and Australia has called for safe and unimpeded access and for a humanitarian pause to allow lifesaving assistance to reach civilians affected by the conflict,” she said.

Senator Wong said the international community must help chart a way out of the crisis towards a two-state solution to the conflict.

Israeli soldiers take part in a military drill aboard Merkava tanks near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel. Picture: AFP

DFAT officials said Australia’s position on the strike on a Gaza hospital last week was guided by the US National Security Council, which found the rocket was fired by Hamas rather than Israel.

The department confirmed Anthony Albanese was yet to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the October attack on his country, amid opposition calls for him to visit Tel Aviv to express Australia’s solidarity with the Jewish state.

“We are continuing discussions to find an alignment of time to enable a call to happen and we’re confident that hopefully that will happen in the next little while,” one said.

There was some confusion among officials over the implications of the government’s new policy of referring to Gaza and the West Bank as the “Occupied Palestinian Territories”.

Under questioning by Liberal senator David Fawcett, DFAT secretary Jan Adams said she was unable to say whether that meant the government agreed with pro-Palestinian protesters in Sydney that Gaza had been “occupied” by Israel for 75 years.

“Given the recent change in the terminology used by the government of ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’, does DFAT support that view that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for 75 years?” he said.

Ms Adams said she couldn’t immediately answer the question.