‘Guarantees’ needed first: Anthony Albanese cools on recognition of Palestinian statehood

Anthony Albanese has sought to distance himself from recognising Palestine now despite pressure from Labor’s Left, as he stresses Hamas can ‘have no role’ in a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is not planning to recognise Palestinian statehood in the ‘immediate future’, despite pressure from within Labor ranks. Picture: Getty Images

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Anthony Albanese has sought to distance himself from recognising Palestine statehood in the “immediate future” and stresses that Hamas can have no role in a state next to Israel, as he faces pressure to take urgent action from Labor’s Left faction.

Despite the Prime Minister ­refusing to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron in recognising Palestine at a UN meeting in September, senior government sources said the Labor leader had not “ruled out” recognition at the summit.

In the wake of Israel’s military beginning to airdrop aid across Gaza, Mr Albanese officially accused the Jewish state of having breached international law by standing in the way of supplies being delivered to Palestinians.

“It’s a breach of decent humanity and of morality and everyone can see that,” he told the ABC.

“The young boy who people will have seen that image of (which) just breaks your heart … is not a Hamas fighter. The civilian casualties and death in Gaza is completely unacceptable. We have rules of engagement and they are there for a reason. They are to stop innocent lives being lost and that is what we have seen.”

When asked directly if Israel was breaching international law, the Labor leader said that while he was “not a lawyer”, the Jewish state was “quite clearly” doing so.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas. Picture: AFP

The comments follow the revelation by Mr Macron on Friday (AEST) that he would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Mr Macron’s announcement prompted Labor figures including sitting MP Ed Husic and former foreign minister Bob Carr to call on Australia to follow suit.

However, Mr Albanese said his government would “make a decision at an appropriate time” and declared “guarantees” were needed such as Hamas not playing a role in the governance of a Palestinian state.

“What we will do is we’ll make a decision at the right time. Is the time right now? Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not,” he said.

Addressing the ratcheting up of pressure from Labor’s dominant Left faction, Mr Albanese said he knew there were some who would argue that Palestine needed to be recognised now.

However, the Prime Minister said critical questions still needed to be answered such as “how do you exclude Hamas from any involvement there?”

“How do you ensure that a Palestinian state operates in an appropriate way which does not threaten the existence of Israel?” he added.

“So we won’t (make) any ­decision as a gesture. We will do it as a way forward if the circumstances are met.”

A boy waves a Palestinian flag during a demonstration to support the population of Gaza. Picture: AFP

Just hours after the Labor leader played down the likelihood that Australia would recognise Palestine in coming months, senior government figures said the prospect of recognising Palestine at the UN Summit was not off the table.

“He didn’t rule it out, to be clear,” one Labor source said.

Labor members have been agitating for the government to make a firm commitment to recognise Palestine, given the party’s national conference had vowed to do so in 2018 when Labor was next in government.

Sources told The Australian that sentiment had been growing since the landslide victory on May 3 that delivered Labor its second term.

The comments from Mr Albanese in recent days – including a sharply worded statement sent in hours after Mr Macron’s commitment to recognise Palestine – were met with backlash from the Israeli embassy in Canberra.

“To condemn Israel for defending itself is wrong,” Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said in a statement.

Israeli ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon. Picture: John Feder

“The international community must stop equivocating and start acting. Pressure must be pleased where it belongs, on Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for this war and the suffering it continues to inflict.”

But Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong doubled down on the Albanese government’s criticism of Israel on Sunday afternoon, declaring “it is forbidden to withhold aid from civilians”.

“That is not consistent with international law, but actually as importantly, it’s morally the wrong thing to do, it’s ethically the wrong thing to do,” she said on a visit to Darwin.

“The quickest, most effective way to ensure that the children of Gaza are provided with the food that they need is for Israel to allow aid to flow unimpeded and for a ceasefire to be in place and for the hostages to be released.”

Senator Wong said Australia would work with partners such as the UK to play a “constructive role” in the conflict.

Her comments follow 220 British MPs signing a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, more than half of which were from Sir Keir’s own Labour Party.

Australia and the UK were both among the countries that this week signed a letter condemning the “inhumane” killing of Palestinian civilians through the withholding of aid.