Greens step up attack: ‘they’re strangling Gaza’

Greens senator Nick McKim says Israel is not acting in self-defence in response to Hamas, as he delivered a statement to the Senate calling for the ‘invasion of Gaza’ to end.

Greens senator Nick McKim. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Greens have accused Israel of unleashing “utter horror” in Gaza, arguing the Jewish state’s retaliation for the murder of more than 1400 of its people is not an act of self defence.

Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, told the Senate Gaza was being “strangled and “bombed to death”, after the ­horrific attack of Israelis and the kidnapping of an estimated 200 people.

“Remove your colonial blinkers for one minute and have a look at the truth,” Senator Faruqi said, after both houses of parliament overwhelmingly backed Israel’s right to defend itself following Hamas’s terrorist attack.

“Palestinians have been under brutal oppression for 75 years. ­Israel is a nuclear colonial state armed to the teeth with billions upon billions of dollars in foreign aid and the people of Gaza are a colonised besieged people, many of whom are refugees.”

Greens senator Nick McKim called for Israel to abandon its planned “invasion” of Gaza, argued that Palestinians were being “slaughtered”.

“What the state of Israel is doing is not acting in self defence,” Senator McKim said.

The Greens introduced a motion in the Senate calling on the chamber to “oppose Israel’s invasion of Gaza”. However, the statement failed to gain the support of any senators outside the left-wing party.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the Greens had shown themselves “to be utterly compromised and morally bankrupt when it comes to foreign policy issues”.

“If they had a shred of integrity they would be calling for the unconditional release of 199 Israelis held by sadistic animals in Gaza,” he told The Australian.

“If they had a shred of integrity they would be calling for the dismantlement of a jihadist terror group that uses rape, torture and abduction as weapons of war.”

Anthony Albanese on Wednesday expressed his horror at the destruction of a Gaza hospital with hundreds of deaths but refused to say which side he believed was ­responsible.

Hamas said an Israeli missile hit the building, but Israel said it had proof the rocket was fired by the terrorist group.

The Prime Minister expressed his shock at the hospital strike, calling for international law to ­“always be upheld”.

“We have seen a devastating loss of innocent life since the attacks on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas,” Mr Albanese said.

“But the scenes from the explosion at a Gaza City hospital are deeply distressing. And it is clear that there has been a devastating loss of life,” he added.

“We condemn any indiscriminate attacks and targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, and Australia joins with others in calling for international law to always be upheld.”

Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Albanese government to act on what it called “the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.

In a joint statement, it called on Australia to “immediately call for a ceasefire and for an end to the targeting of civilians in Gaza”.

“The Israeli government’s complete siege of Gaza has cut people off from clean water, food, fuel, and power.

“There are no humanitarian corridors to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, and the Rafah border crossing to Egypt has been repeatedly attacked.”

Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel, who has a high number of Jewish constituents in her Melbourne electorate, said she fundamentally disagreed with the Greens, arguing their actions were “unhelpful”.

Ms Daniel backed Israel’s right to defend itself “within the ­boundaries of international law and the rules of war” and suggested that the Greens’ rhetoric was “inflammatory”.

Earlier this week, the teal MP said she emphatically disagreed with her parliamentary colleagues Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps, who joined with the Greens to ­accuse Israel of war crimes.

“I don’t think what the Greens are doing is helpful. I think it’s inflammatory, and you’ve got to be careful this doesn’t spill over into our own country,” Ms Daniel told Sky News.