Penny Wong resolute on Hamas as Jewish groups raise concerns

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has declared ‘Hamas has no place in the future of governance of Gaza’ amid concerns from Jewish leaders that Labor’s opposition to the terrorist organisation may wane.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Picture: AFP

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has declared “Hamas has no place in the future of governance of Gaza” amid concerns from Jewish leaders that Labor’s opposition to the terrorist organisation may wane as the Albanese government hardens its language against Israel.

Outrage over the Jewish state’s attack on an aid convoy that killed seven including Australian Zomi Frankcom continued on Thursday, with Anthony Albanese declaring statements from Israeli leaders that her death was just a “product of war” did not stand.

“We need to have accountability for how it’s occurred. And what isn’t good enough is the statements that have been made, including that this is ‘just a product of war’,” he said.

“This is against humanitarian law. International humanitarian law makes it very clear that aid workers should be able to provide that aid and that assistance free of the threat of losing their life.”

The Prime Minister’s comments followed US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin using a call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday to “express his outrage” at the strike”.

“Secretary Austin stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated co-ordination failures with foreign aid groups,” a readout from the Pentagon said.

“Secretary Austin urged Minister Gallant to conduct a swift and transparent investigation, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account.”

The bodies of six of the aid workers, who had been employed by US-based food charity World Central Kitchen and killed beside one Palestinian colleague, were removed to Egypt for repatriation on Wednesday.

The fury over the incident from Western nations elicited concern from Jewish communities, which urged governments not to soften their stance against Hamas.

Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein responded to the Albanese government’s hardened language towards Israel this week as “counter to their earlier sensible insistence that there is no role for Hamas in Gaza’s future”.

“Leaving Hamas in power, with its military infrastructure even partly intact, is simply a recipe for further wars, and further devastation for civilians in both Israel and Gaza,” he said.

But a spokeswoman for Senator Wong said the Australian government had been consistent in its view on Hamas, which is still listed as a terrorist organisation.

“As the Foreign Minister has said consistently, the Australian government believes Hamas has no place in the future of governance of Gaza,” the spokeswoman said.

However, the Foreign Minister’s spokeswoman reiterated the need for a humanitarian ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, which all members of the UN Security Council voted for last week.

Australia’s peak Jewish body said Ms Wong’s comments that Hamas had no future were “absolutely correct” and that “as long as it remained in effective control” war and tragedy would linger.

“The world must call with clarity and unity for Hamas to lay down its arms and accept its defeat,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said.

“Every day that passes without this will lead to more needless suffering and more misery.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said Hamas was “not only recognised in Australia as a terrorist organisation but tragically demonstrated its vicious intent on 7 October”.

“Hamas have publicly stated their intent to repeat last year’s terror attacks and there can be no role for them in the future governance of Gaza,” he said.

Senator Birmingham said “mistakes do happen in war” and speculated that Israel was subject to greater scrutiny in its military conduct “than in any other circumstance around the world”.

His comments were branded as “dismissive” and “offensive” by Labor frontbencher Anne Aly, who declared Israel was “losing very quickly any kind of support that it has” since Monday’s attack on the aid convoy.

In a statement, WCK said its team had been travelling in a “deconflicted zone in two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft-skin vehicle”.

WCK added that its team had co-ordinated with Israeli military officials and had clearance to use the route, declaring that it had lost seven “beautiful souls” in a “targeted attack”.

The charity suspended operations and a ship that had carried food aid from Cyprus to Gaza turned back towards the Mediterranean island with about 240 tonnes of supplies that had not been unloaded.

Israel’s armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a “grave mistake”, which he blamed on night-time “misidentification”, adding that “we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK”.

Additional reporting: Agencies