Gaza situation beyond ‘worst fears,’ Australia says amid mass starvation
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is beyond the world’s “worst fears,” Australia’s government said Friday, as reports of mass starvation and disease across the war-torn enclave persist.
“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears. The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. “Every Israeli. Every Palestinian. This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.”
“Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving,” he continued. “Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.”
Albanese added, “We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law. This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance.”
After a temporary ceasefire ended between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israeli officials blocked the delivery of aid to the Gaza from March to May. Since then, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by Israel, has distributed aid to some areas of the strip overseen by the Jewish State.
The organization, also backed by the U.S. government, has distributed over 90 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since May, according to the State Department. Still, the food pickup sites are dangerous, as hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, with the Israeli military at times firing live ammunition for crowd control.
The Israeli military has argued that the aid distribution system is set up to bar Hamas from stealing food and the country’s officials have pinned the blame of Palestinian suffering on Hamas.
Israel was also criticized by Canada and the United Kingdom, with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney arguing that Israel’s control of aid distribution “must be replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations.”
“Many of these are holding significant Canadian-funded aid which has been blocked from delivery to starving civilians. This denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international law,” Carney said Thursday in a statement.
The statements come as France’s President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will soon recognize Palestinian statehood, becoming the first Group of Seven (G7) nation to do so.
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, a U.S.-government-designated terrorist group, fell apart as President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the administration is looking at alternative options to free the hostages from Hamas.
“It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way,” Witkoff said Thursday. “We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza.”
The conflict ignited after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 Israelis and taking roughly 250 hostages. Since then, the Israeli military has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The tally does distinguish between civilians and combatants.