Prime Minister says Israel’s denial of starvation in Gaza is beyond comprehension

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised Israel's claims there is no starvation in Gaza as "beyond comprehension" as international condemnation grows over Israel’s actions. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has refused to explicitly comment on whether Israel has played a role in the humanitarian situation.

Transcript

00:00Well, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, more generally, has been a central point of political

00:07discussion throughout this parliamentary sitting fortnight.

00:11And this morning we know that Labor backbencher Ed Husic raised the issue with his colleagues

00:17and he pressed the Prime Minister to answer when exactly Australia will move to formally

00:23recognise Palestinian statehood.

00:26As we know, at the end of last week, French President Emmanuel Macron indicated that France

00:31will take that very step at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

00:36And in response, the PM said that Australia doesn't have any plans to do that, at least

00:42in the short term.

00:43However, we do know that his stance on Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip is hardening.

00:50In response to that question from Mr Husic, Anthony Albanese essentially described Israel's

00:57claims that there's no famine or starvation in Gaza as beyond comprehension.

01:04So, directly refuting those claims from the Netanyahu government.

01:08He also went further when it comes to this question of Palestinian statehood.

01:14And he essentially quoted Nelson Mandela saying, it always seems impossible until it's done.

01:21There are still some hurdles that the Australian government would like to see overcome in order

01:26to meet that statehood question.

01:28So, for example, ensuring the democratisation of Palestine and also seeing, I guess, the demilitarisation

01:38of Hamas more generally.

01:40However, we are seeing sort of steps towards this.

01:44And ultimately, the government's position is a two-state solution, but ultimately the Labor

01:50grassroots are certainly pushing for Palestinian recognition pretty forcefully at that grassroots

01:57level.

01:57The PM also got a question in question time today from the Greens asking whether Anthony Albanese

02:05would seek to place sanctions on Israel, similar to what Australia has done, say, with Russia

02:11power over its invasion of Ukraine.

02:14The PM says that that's not his intention at this stage, and he also asked the Greens not

02:20to stoke tensions here at home.

02:24We don't take these issues lightly.

02:28And what we don't do also is try to secure some domestic political advantage and damage social

02:38cohesion in this country through some of the actions which, frankly, some of the Greens political

02:45party actions have done.

02:48What we do is act in a principle way and in a way that is consistent.

02:53We condemn Hamas for their actions.

02:57And we condemn what is occurring in Gaza in breach of international law.

03:04That is the way that responsible adult governments act.

03:08That's the way that middle powers can have influence.

03:12And Olivia, what did the opposition leader Susan Lee have to say on the Israel-Gaza situation

03:17today?

03:18Well, I think what's notable more generally is we are seeing a hardening criticism of the

03:24Israeli government on the world stage more generally.

03:27So, for example, we saw coalition frontbencher James Patterson today indicating that he'd like

03:35to see Israel assisting more aid getting into Gaza for civilians.

03:41And he did say as well that the current situation is damaging Israel's reputation and its international

03:48standing.

03:49US President Donald Trump as well, a usual ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president,

03:55also disputed Israel's reports that there isn't a starvation or famine on the ground.

04:01So a notable shift there as well.

04:03Interestingly, the opposition leader, Susan Lee, she was less forceful in her remarks.

04:09She was far more cautious, saying that while she's incredibly distressed by the images of

04:15malnourished children coming out of Gaza, she stopped short of saying whether she believed

04:20that a famine was taking place.

04:22I have been distressed, and I don't mind saying that over and over again, but I still make

04:28the same points that I have before.

04:29It's very complex on the ground.

04:32It's not something that we can make judgments about every move that is made.

04:36There are reports of Hamas interrupting the flow of aid and carrying on its atrocious activities

04:42at this time.

04:44Now, if we want the war to end, and we all do, we know the simplest, quickest way is for

04:50Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.

04:53So it's clear that there are some differing opinions within the coalition on this question of what's

05:01happening in Gaza.

05:02We've also seen some reports in the New York Times over the past couple of hours suggesting

05:07that the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is more actively considering this question

05:13of Palestinian statehood.

05:15The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, yesterday during question time revealed that he's been

05:20in conversation with some world leaders when it comes to Palestinian statehood.

05:26We don't know exactly who that is, though, or whether Keir Starmer is among those that

05:30he's been speaking with.

05:31We don't know exactly who that is.

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