Albanese Issues Strongest Rebuke Yet Over ‘Humanitarian Catastrophe’ in Gaza

The statement comes just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his government would officially recognise Palestine as a state.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reacts during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Ishibaat the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 17, 2025. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued his strongest statement yet on the crisis in Gaza, condemning the worsening humanitarian situation and demanding Israel immediately comply with international law.

The statement comes just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his government would officially recognise Palestine as a state in the coming months.

“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears. Every innocent life matters. Every Israeli. Every Palestinian,” Albanese said in a statement on July 25.

He described the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic,” with civilians dying from hunger and a lack of access to basic supplies.

“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,” he said.

Albanese’s remarks also follow a joint international statement signed by Australia and 27 other nations earlier this week, urging an immediate ceasefire.

The Israeli government rejected the statement as “disconnected from reality,” claiming such criticism ignores the actions of Hamas. 

The United Nations have directly blamed Israel’s blockade for preventing the delivery of aid to civilians in need.

The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency reported this week that frontline staff were collapsing from hunger while trying to distribute assistance.

Australia has updated its public position on the conflict in recent months, maintaining support for a two-state solution while also increasing pressure on Israel over its conduct in Gaza.

Federal opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Michaelia Cash, pinned the suffering of Gazans on the actions of Hamas.

“Any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas. Hamas and its allies have tried to disrupt the flow of aid into Gaza and have stolen humanitarian aid for their own purposes,” she said in a statement.

“This war began because of Hamas’s abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians, where over 1,200 were murdered in cold blood, and they bear responsibility for the continuation of this conflict.”

The conservative Australian Jewish Association (AJA) responded to the prime minister’s comments, saying there was a double standard.

“Notice how [Albanese] appeases the human rights abusing dictator in China, but can’t stop bashing the Jewish State,” the AJA wrote in a statement on X.