00:00The international community is moving to establish a Palestinian state and it is opposing actions
00:07which undermine the two-state solution.
00:10The Netanyahu government is rapidly expanding illegal settlements.
00:17Settler violence in the West Bank has increased.
00:20There have been threats to annex the occupied Palestinian territories and proposing the
00:27permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian people.
00:33These actions, together with the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, risk putting a two-state
00:40solution out of reach for a generation.
00:44I have said it publicly and I have said it directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
00:50The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world's worst fears.
00:56Far too many innocent lives have been lost.
01:00The Israeli government continues to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water
01:05to desperate people, including children.
01:09This vital aid must be allowed to get to the people who need it most.
01:13This is about much more than drawing a line on a map.
01:17This is about delivering a lifeline to the people of Gaza.
01:23I understand that on this issue history casts a long shadow.
01:30Every generation has known failures and false dawns.
01:35Yet the story of this struggle is also one of opportunities not taken.
01:40That is where the risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment
01:45pass us by.
01:47The toll of the status quo is growing by the day, and it can be measured in innocent lives.
01:54The world cannot wait for success to be guaranteed.
01:58That only means waiting for a day that will never come.
02:02There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community
02:06to seize it.
02:07I invite my Minister Wong to make some remarks, and then we will take questions.
02:12Mr Hirschar.
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