Australia, Canada and NZ call for an immediate ceasefire to end catastrophic human suffering in Gaza

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has joined with his counterparts from Canada and New Zealand to urge Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying they remain committed to a two-state solution as the “only realistic solution” to a lasting peace in the region.

As international frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to grow, the three leaders implored him to allow extra aid into the area, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Credit: Getty Images, Alex Ellinghausen, AP

“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue,” Albanese said in a joint statement with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxton and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released on Friday night.

“We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas for the atrocities of October 7 and ongoing acts of terror. Hamas must lay down its arms and release all hostages. We see no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.

“An immediate ceasefire is needed desperately. Civilians must be protected, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation.

“We fully stand behind the comprehensive ceasefire deal, outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council. We call on parties to the conflict to agree to the deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost.

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.

Albanese, Luxton and Trudeau in joint statement

“We are committed to working towards an irreversible path to achieving a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognised borders. This is the only realistic option to achieve a just and enduring peace.”

It is the third time the three leaders have come together to urge Israel to halt its operations in Gaza.

In a statement released in February, the group of leaders warned Israel against launching a ground operation in Gaza.

This followed the group’s first contribution in December in which they said they supported “urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire” and backed Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law.

Netanyahu this week addressed a joint-sitting of the United States Congress where he portrayed the war as a “clash between barbarism and civilisation”, labelled anti-Israel protesters as “Iran’s useful idiots” and called on the US to fast-track military weapons so his defence force could “finish the job faster”.

Netanyahu was invited to address the congress by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The speech led to thousands of protesters marching towards the US Capitol, with some pepper-sprayed by police for breaching police lines, and others later burning the American flag at nearby Union Station.

On Thursday (US time), Netanyahu met with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with the vice president imploring the Israeli leader to accept a ceasefire deal that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release hostages.

Netanyahu’s speech followed the Israeli army’s strike on several Houthi targets in western Yemen after a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv which killed one person and wounded at least ten more.

The Israeli strikes last Sunday (AEST) appeared to be the first on Yemeni soil since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, and they threatened to open a new front in the region as Israel battles proxies of Iran.

A number of “military targets” were hit in the western port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold, the Israeli army said, adding that its attack was “in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the state of Israel in recent months.”

The Ministry of Health in Sanaa said that 80 people were wounded in a preliminary toll of the strikes in Hodeidah, most of them with severe burns.

Israel’s months-long bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians since October, according to the local health ministry.

Almost 90 per cent of Gazans, about 1.9 million people, have been displaced while 495,000 are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

The campaign was a response to Hamas’s October 7 attack, when the group killed 1200 people and took more than 200 hostages, according to the Israeli government.

In the statement released on Friday, Albanese, Luxon and Trudeau called on Israel to “respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion, and ensure accountability for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, reverse the record expansion of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, and work towards a two-state solution”.

​“We are gravely concerned about the prospect of further escalation across the region. We condemn Iran’s attack against Israel of April 13-14, call on Iran to refrain from further destabilising actions in the Middle East, and demand that Iran and its affiliated groups, including Hezballah, cease their attacks. We also condemn the Houthis’ ongoing reckless acts, including their indiscriminate drone attack in Tel Aviv and ongoing attacks on international shipping.”

Further hostilities risked putting tens of thousands of civilian lives in both Lebanon and Israel at risk, the leaders said.

The president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Jeremy Liebler, said: “The government cannot have it both ways. It cannot simultaneously call for the dismantling of Hamas and demand that Israel unilaterally end the war in Gaza – thereby leaving Hamas in power and able to deliver on its promise to commit another ‘7 October’ attack on Israel.

“They are fundamentally incompatible demands. Hamas started this war, and is the reason it has not ended. The war would end tomorrow with the release of the hostages and the surrender of Hamas. Applying pressure on Israel to end the war unilaterally only serves to embolden Hamas and prolong the war.”

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