Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declined to say whether Australia will follow allies like the United Kingdom, France, and Canada in considering sanctions on Israel.
This comes amid concerns that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza as it steps up its offensive to gain control of the strip.
“We follow our own path and Australia determines our own foreign policy and we have been very consistent the whole way through,” Albanese told reporters.
Albanese said unlike the other nations calling for sanctions, Australia does not “provide military assets to Israel” and argued Australia was in “different circumstances.”
However, he reiterated his calls for help to be provided to Palestinians in need and Israeli captives to be set free.
Pressed on sanctions, the Prime Minister challenged the journalist: “What sanctions are you suggesting? And that’s not a criticism of you, just a reflection of reality.”
“What we are interested in is substance. What we want is peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. We support a two state solution—that has been bipartisan position for a long period of time,” Albanese added.
However, Albanese did label Israel’s actions on aid into Gaza as “completely unacceptable” in a recent interview.
Tension Within Labor Ranks
This comes after Muslim Labor MP Ed Husic called for Australia to consider “targeted sanctions” on Israel.
“I think we should be actively considering—and I suspect it’s probably under active consideration—drawing up a list of targeted sanctions where we can join with others,” Husic said in an interview with the ABC.Husic highlighted it was clear Canada, France and the UK were moving in that direction.
“We should be ready to move when others move as well, to exert maximum international pressure to stop this blockade and to help people in Gaza,” he said.
International pressure has been mounting in relation to the limited aid access to Gaza. In March, Israel implemented an 11-week blockade of aid into Gaza.
In mid-May, Israel started to allow limited aid into Gaza, with up to 170 trucks entering the Kerem Shalom crossing since May 18.
The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has begun delivering aid with the goal of reaching more than 1 million people.
Netanyahu Defends Israel’s Position
On May 23, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his government’s efforts to provide aid into Gaza. He said that Israel had sent 92,000 aid trucks.“Yet as we had let the aid come in, Hamas stole it. They took a huge chunk for themselves. The rest they sold at exorbitant prices to the Palestinian population. Then they used the money they stole to recruit new terrorists to continue their war against Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu explained his goal from the start was to deliver food to Palestinian civilians, not Palestinian terrorists.
“So we consulted with our American allies: what do we do to prevent Hamas from looting the aid?” he said.
“Well, together we devised a mechanism to achieve this goal. American companies will distribute the food directly to Palestinian families.
“They'll do so in safe zones secured by our military. And this will allow us to complete our goal of destroying Hamas while enabling aid to reach the civilian population.”
The Israeli Prime Minister also accused French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of being “on the wrong side of humanity and ”the wrong side of history.”
