Anthony Albanese has strongly rejected Israel’s claims that there’s no starvation in Gaza as “beyond comprehension”.
The prime minister was responding to statements made by his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s deputy ambassador to Australia, during a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday.
“While there is a caveat on any health information which is provided by Hamas, it is Israel that has prevented journalists from getting in,” he told the meeting in Canberra.
It comes after Mr Albanese on Friday declared Israel’s retaliation in Gaza following the October 7 attack on the nation state by Hamas had “gone beyond the world’s worst fears”.
Then on Sunday, he warned Israel had “quite clearly” breached international law by limiting food deliveries to starving civilians in Gaza, escalating his criticism of the Jewish state.
The prime minister spoke of his emotional response to images of gaunt and dying children in the Palestinian territory, while acknowledging increased airdrops of aid by Israel was “a start”.
“It just breaks your heart,” he told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
Overnight on Monday, US President Donald Trump contradicted the Israeli prime minister by stating many people were starving in the Gaza Strip and suggested more could be done to improve humanitarian access.
Mr Netanyahu has said “there is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza …”
Israel’s deputy ambassador to Australia Amir Meron told journalists on Monday “we don’t recognise any famine or any starvation in the Gaza Strip”.
The number of Palestinians believed to have been killed is nearing 60,000 people, according to local health authorities.
While air drops of aid have been carried out into Gaza, humanitarian agencies say they aren’t enough to deal with worsening levels of starvation in the area.
At the caucus meeting, Mr Albanese was also asked about Palestinian statehood.
He referenced a Nelson Mandela quote, saying “it always seems impossible until it’s done”.
The prime minister has previously said any resolution on the issue would need to guarantee that Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in Gaza, which Australia has designated a terrorist group, plays no part in the future nation.
There would also need to be agreements on the rebuilding of Gaza and the West Bank, and a resolution of issues over the expansion of Israeli settlements.
Recognition of Palestinian statehood has been part of Labor’s national platform since 2018.
Labor is facing intensifying pressure to follow France in recognising a Palestinian state at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.
The Greens are calling on the government to impose the same sanctions on Israel as it had done so for Russia.
The minor party is also seeking a ban on buying items that can help fund the war, pointing to sanctions on pearls and truffles for Russia.
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