Israel must change course in Gaza to keep international support, says Australia

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attitude to the Gaza conflict was hurting Israel, and she encouraged the country to change direction or risk losing even more international support.

US President Joe Biden stated on Saturday that Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping” by conducting the war in a way that contradicted the country’s ideals.

When asked about his comments from Tuesday, Wong concurred, saying worldwide support for Israel would dwindle until it addressed the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

“October 7th was a terrorist attack and the world was rightly very sympathetic to and in solidarity with Israel at that time,” Wong said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday.

“I think the world is horrified with the current situation … and I would say that unless Israel changes its course it will continue to lose support.”

The conflict was sparked by Hamas’ raid on Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 people were murdered and 253 were held captive, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s air and military assault on Gaza has killed 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities.

The fighting has displaced the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, and the United Nations believes that one-quarter of the population is at risk of hunger.

Wong’s new remarks about Israel are part of a rising chorus of voices, even those of its staunch supporters, calling on the country to solve the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as it prepares to launch an attack on the southern city of Rafah.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in a joint statement last month. Wong said the three countries united to “amplify” their voices.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Monday appealed for a truce and said the threatened assault on Rafah could put the people of Gaza in “an even deeper circle of hell.”

Israel has said it will not stop its war until it eradicates the Hamas militant organisation.