Ceasefire call “disappointing and unreasonable”
Call places Israel in an impossible position and sets a precedent that terrorist organisations will have immunity by hiding behind civilians, ZFA president says
Jewish leaders have describe as “disappointing” a statement from the prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand warning Israel against launching a military operation in Rafah.
Anthony Albanese, Justin Trudeau and Christopher Luxon said on Thursday they are “gravely concerned” about a possible ground offensive into Rafah which might have a devastating impact on Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
“Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community,” they said.
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) said the comments were disappointing and betray a disturbing lack of realism.
Executive director Colin Rubenstein said, “The statement … fails to acknowledge that Israel is currently delaying its plans to attack Rafah so it can implement a mass evacuation plan precisely to avoid the devastating humanitarian impact the PMs fear.”
However, he said AIJAC appreciated the three leader’s calls for Hamas to lay down its arms and free the hostages immediately.
“The only way to disarm Hamas and to prevent it from scuttling any future hope for a political solution is to decisively defeat it, and that will only happen if Israel does conduct a military campaign in Rafah – or the threat of such a campaign forces Hamas to lay down its arms,” Rubenstein said.
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said, “It is extremely disappointing and frankly unreasonable for the Government to call for the removal of Hamas from power as the only pathway to end the war and simultaneously call on Israel to refrain from entering Rafah to remove the last remaining Hamas stronghold”.
He said it places Israel in an impossible position and sets a precedent that terrorist organisations will have immunity by hiding behind civilians.
“If it were possible to rescue the hostages and remove Hamas from Gaza without risking any civilian lives or the lives of Israeli soldiers, Israel would do so. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire and has been brought about by Hamas’s tactic of shielding itself within civilian areas, which is a gross violation of the laws of armed conflict,” Leibler said.
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