Australia presses Israel on Gaza aid response

Australian Jewish leaders described a joint statement signed by Australia and 22 other countries calling for more aid into Gaza as well-intentioned, but failing to address how to avoid Hamas stealing aid and not acknowledging UNRWA complicity in terrorist offences.

The statement signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and other nations on Tuesday said they could not support Israel’s “new model for delivering aid into Gaza”. On Monday Israel said it was allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza following a two-month blockade, which was criticised by the UN as insufficient.

The countries called for Israel to “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately, and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially”, reiterating their “firm message that Hamas must immediately release all remaining hostages and allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference”.

It was signed by foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and senior EU officials.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion noted the statement “calls on Hamas to ‘allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference’, but says nothing about how this essential requirement is to be achieved”.