Community stands by Israel’s right to self defence
Communal leaders say 'rockets are war crimes'; foreign minister Penny Wong urges parties to exercise restraint
“Every Islamic Jihad rocket fired towards civilians is a war crime,” Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said on Friday.
It comes as a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza struck an apartment building in Rehovot, killing one and injuring five.
More than 800 rockets have been fired at Israel in the past two days.
“The Australian Jewish community stands by Israel’s unequivocal right to defend itself. Less than a week before this operation began, Islamic Jihad fired over a hundred rockets at Israeli cities,” Leibler said.
“Over 800 rockets have been fired at Israeli civilians in the last two days. The only reason more Israelis haven’t been killed is the incredible lengths to which Israel goes to protect its people, such as Iron Dome, public bomb shelters and reinforced rooms in every single apartment and house.
“Islamic Jihad and Gaza’s ruler Hamas must be held accountable by responsible governments across the world for these crimes.”
Foreign minister Penny Wong tweeted on Thursday, “The escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories is deeply concerning.
“Australia condemns the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza and respects Israel’s right to defend itself. We continue to urge all parties to exercise restraint and protect civilian lives.”
A day earlier she tweeted, “Australia is deeply concerned by the tragic loss of civilian life, including children, from Israeli airstrikes overnight in Gaza.”
The escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories is deeply concerning.
Australia condemns the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza and respects Israel’s right to defend itself.
We continue to urge all parties to exercise restraint and protect civilian lives. https://t.co/hry5sOFwnP
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) May 11, 2023
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim noted that Israelis have been subjected to rocket and mortar attacks from armed terrorist groups in Gaza “continually since 2001”.
“These groups openly declare that they make no distinction between Israeli military and civilian targets, and in fact almost all of these attacks have been aimed at Israel’s major population centres and other civilian targets,” he said.
“This leaves no room for argument that the Palestinian rocket attacks are war crimes, and this factor must be taken into consideration in assessing the ‘proportionality’ of Israel’s suppressing measures in response.”
He called the killing of the Israeli civilian in Rehovot and the wounding of several elderly Israelis in the latest rocket attacks “utterly deplorable, as were the deaths of four Gazan civilians killed by some of the 100 Palestinian rockets which misfired or landed inside the Gaza Strip.
“Shamefully, much of the western media has downplayed these aspects.”
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