Foreign Minister Penny Wong has teamed up with 22 of her counterparts from around the world in hitting out at Israel over humanitarian aid to Gaza but their remarks have been branded “a disappointing inversion of reality”.
Ms Wong lent her support to a joint donor statement on Monday as Israel revealed plans to “allow a basic amount of food” into Gaza after aid was blocked for more than two months.
The new plan was slammed by the countries which issued the joint statement, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.
“Israel’s security cabinet has reportedly approved a new model for delivering aid into Gaza, which the UN and our humanitarian partners cannot support,” the statement said.
“They are clear that they will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles.
“The UN has raised concerns that the proposed model cannot deliver aid effectively, at the speed and scale required.
“Humanitarian aid should never be politicised, and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.”
But Australian Jewish Association Chief Executive Officer Robert Gregory told SkyNews.com.au: “Senator Wong’s statement is a disappointing inversion of reality and reflects twisted moral priorities.
“Israel is engaged in a defensive war against Hamas – a listed terrorist organisation under Australian law – following the 7 October massacre. Hamas not only initiated this war, but deliberately operates from within civilian areas, including hospitals and schools, using its own population as human shields.
“Despite these brutal and complex conditions, Israel has facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza – an extraordinary act of restraint, especially while rockets continue to be fired and innocent people remain in captivity.
“Israel is working on a mechanism to ensure aid can continue to flow without being misused by Hamas.”
Mr Gregory noted the joint statement mentioned Israel four times while only referring to Hamas once, which he said was “a clear indication of its skewed priorities”.
“It targets the only democracy in the Middle East, while barely naming the terrorist group that started the conflict and continues to hold hostages,” he said.
“No country represented in this statement would go to the lengths that Israel has gone to in providing for an enemy population during wartime. It has become easy for the Albanese government to join international pile-ons rather than stand for truth and principle.
“The war in Gaza could end immediately if Hamas laid down its weapons and released the hostages – something that has been true since day one. No amount of international pressure or lecturing from Penny Wong will change Israel’s obligation: to bring its people home and to defeat Hamas so that it cannot carry out future massacres.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Daniel Aghion said the joint statement failed to address a critical issue relevant to the distribution of aid supplies.
“Whilst the joint donor statement on humanitarian aid to Gaza is well-intentioned and is directed towards alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza, it fails to address a critical issue: what measures will be taken to prevent food, medicines and essential supplies from continuing to be stolen by Hamas and other terrorist groups?” he told SkyNews.com.au.
“The joint statement calls on Hamas to ‘allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference’, but says nothing about how this essential requirement is to be achieved.
“Unless this issue is resolved, the benefit to civilians of resuming aid deliveries will be severely undermined, and the unintended consequence will be to benefit Hamas and encourage it not to release the hostages and to prolong the conflict.”
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said that “at the recommendation of the IDF, and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip”.
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March to try to pressure Hamas into freeing its hostages.
Mr Netanyahu also said that when Israel had previously opted to provide minimal humanitarian aid during the war, they “discovered that Hamas was looting some of this aid”.
He said on Monday that the new method “is distribution points that are secured by the IDF, preventing Hamas’ access and allowing American companies to distribute the food and medicine aid to the population”.
The joint statement from the foreign ministers said that “food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted” in Gaza.
“The population faces starvation. Gaza’s people must receive the aid they desperately need,” it said.
“Prior to the aid block, the UN and humanitarian NGOs delivered aid into Gaza, working with great courage, at the risk of their lives and in the face of major access challenges imposed by Israel.”
The government of Israel was also issued “two straightforward messages” through the joint donor statement which was “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity”.
“We remain committed to meeting the acute needs we see in Gaza. We also reiterate our firm message that Hamas must immediately release all remaining hostages and allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference,” the statement said.
“It is our firm conviction that an immediate return to a ceasefire and working towards the implementation of a two-state solution are the only way to bring peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long-term stability for the whole region.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced the start of a new operation on Friday, and earlier on Monday Mr Netanyahu said Israel would take control of the whole of Gaza.
He said Israel will defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved, reiterating Israel’s conditions to end the war which include the release of the remaining hostages and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s ground and air war has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
The war began with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Reporting with Reuters
