The Age | Matthew Knott, Natassia Chrysanthos | 10.10.23
Israel has formally declared war on Hamas, amassing 100,000 troops plus tanks and armoured personnel carriers near the border with Gaza as it seeks to obliterate the group’s military and governing facilities in retaliation for a series of shock attacks and hostage takings.
As the Israeli death toll grew to at least 700 and the Palestinian death toll exceeded 400 on latest estimates, the Israel Defence Forces said the military had targeted 500 sites in Gaza Strip through the use of jets, helicopters and other aircraft.
Israel’s military response has been complicated by the fact Hamas militants claim they have taken 130 Israelis hostages in recent days.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said the hostages taken into Gaza included ‘‘babies, toddlers, young people, parents and grandparents’’.
‘‘By tomorrow, I know these intolerable numbers will have risen once again,’’ he said. ‘‘Many, many funerals of victims and heroes are being conducted amid this ongoing tragedy, and Israel is a nation of broken hearts.’’
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged Australians not to attend pro-Palestine rallies following Hamas’ ‘‘indefensible’’ attacks on Israeli civilians, the opposition called on the government to end all support for the Palestinian Territories unless the money was redirected to purely humanitarian purposes.
Palestine advocates and Labor sources conceded the push to recognise Palestinian statehood, as outlined in the party’s policy platform, had suffered a major blow and was likely to be off the agenda for years after Hamas’ unexpected and brutal incursions into Israeli territory.
Parliament House in Canberra was lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag last night in a sign of solidarity with Israel, as was the MCG, the National Gallery of Victoria and Sydney Opera House.
Albanese is facing a backlash from Muslim community leaders who say they feel thrown aside after the prime minister energetically courted them to back an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Saying he expected Israel to ‘‘unleash hell’’ on Gaza over coming days, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said: ‘‘I’m not sure recognition [of Palestinian statehood] is something that could be contemplated by a government that is lighting up the Opera House with the Israeli flag while Palestinians are also being killed.’’
More than two days after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion from Gaza, the Israeli military said it was still battling Hamas militants in seven to eight places in southern Israel.
Israeli Defence Forces spokesman Richard Hecht said it was taking longer than expected to repel the incursion because there were still multiple breaches in the border, which Hamas could be using to bring in more fighters and weapons.
‘‘We thought this morning we’d be in a better place,’’ Hecht said.
The Biden administration announced that it would send the USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, to the region to conduct surveillance and prevent further weapons from reaching Gaza.
The ship, with about 5000 sailors and a deck of warplanes on board, will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a major show of support for Israel.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who spoke with her Israeli counterpart yesterday, said Israel had not requested any military help from Australia.
Referring to Wong’s initial comments that all sides should show restraint, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it was ‘‘completely and utterly the wrong time for that sort of language’’ and backed Israel’s right to hit back after Hamas’ ‘‘barbaric’’ attacks.
On Sunday and in several media appearances yesterday, Albanese condemned the Hamas assault as abhorrent and asserted Israel’s right to respond.
He described Hamas’ indiscriminate targeting of civilians, including young people at a desert rave, as ‘‘quite unprecedented and quite horrific’’, saying the attacks had ‘‘been quite rightly condemned by the world’’.
His tone had shifted slightly by yesterday afternoon, when he acknowledged Palestinians had suffered ‘‘for a long period of time’’ and affirmed his support for a two-state solution.
‘‘The Palestinian people have of course continued to do it tough … I’m a supporter of Israel; I’m also a supporter of Palestinians as well,’’ he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
While saying the issues involved were complex, Albanese said he did not believe the cause of peace would be advanced by people attending ‘‘free Palestine’’ rallies.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry spokesman Alex Ryvchin condemned a Sunday night pro-Palestinian rally in Lakemba, Sydney, as sickening. ‘‘I place the blame at their leaders, at the clerics that incite them, that tell them that this is OK … they need to be held to account for this,’’ he said.
Albanese gave a categorical ‘‘no’’ when asked whether any Australian money had made its way to Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the Coalition had regularly raised concerns about the government’s decision last year to double funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Palestinian Territories from $10 million to $20 million.
Meanwhile, the emerging rift between the federal government and the Muslim community comes just days after the Australian National Imams Council asked all imams and speakers to dedicate last Friday’s address, or khutbah, to backing a Yes vote in this Saturday’s Voice referendum.
A spokesperson for the Australian National Imams Council, which has supported a Yes vote in the referendum, said: ‘‘People feel used. They feel as though when it’s suited the government it sought the support of the community, it entered their sacred places and in the moment it no longer suited, the concerns and sentiments of that community were thrown to one side and ignored.’’
A Jewish community rally in support of Israel was held last night at Caulfield Hebrew Congregation. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles spoke, along with opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson and Victorian Deputy Premier Ben Carroll.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Victorian Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick and about 20 federal and state MPs were also in attendance.