PM accuses Israel of denying Gazans aid

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash has rejected a statement Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued on Friday about Gaza, arguing it “once again fails to place any blame on Hamas” for delays in aid reaching Palestinians.

Cash said it was “disappointing” that Albanese’s statement did not hold the listed terrorist organisation responsible for the humanitarian crisis, insisting “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,” Cash said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“This war began because of Hamas’s abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians, where over 1200 were murdered in cold blood, and they bear responsibility for the continuation of this conflict.”

Albanese’s statement, released earlier on Friday, declared “the situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears” and criticised Israel’s handling of humanitarian aid.