Australia condemns Israel's plan to administer aid in Gaza via IDF controlled zones
Australia is among 23 countries condemning Israel's pledge to 'take control' of Gaza and allow aid to flow in via IDF-controlled checkpoints after blocking humanitarian assistance into the war zone for months.
Israel allowed five aid trucks into Gaza on Monday - the first since it started blocking shipments on March 2.
Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said his government was committed to preventing starvation conditions in Gaza, but wanted to ensure aid could not be 'looted' by Hamas.
'From the beginning of the war, we said that in order to complete the victory, defeat Hamas and free all our hostages … there is one necessary condition: we must not reach a state of starvation,' he said in a video message.
'We simply won't get support, we won't be able to complete the mission of victory.
'So we decided to provide minimal aid during the war and of course we advanced in this way and of course we discovered that Hamas was looting some of this aid.
'So, we stopped the humanitarian aid and together with our American friends we decided to do a different method.
'The method is distribution points that are secured by the IDF, preventing Hamas' access and allowing American companies to distribute the food and medicine aid to the population.'
Mr Netanyahu said the new proposal would 'take time' but would eventually establish a humanitarian distribution zone free from Hamas.
In a joint statement signed alongside the foreign ministers of major democratic nations, including the UK, Japan, Canada and Italy, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she could not support the 'new model' and said humanitarian aid should not be subject to political or military conditions.
'Humanitarian principles matter for every conflict around the world and should be applied consistently in every war zone,' the statement reads.
'The UN has raised concerns that the proposed model cannot deliver aid effectively, at the speed and scale required.
'It places beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermines the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners and links humanitarian aid to political and military objectives.
'Humanitarian aid should never be politicised and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.'
The ministers warned food, medicines and essential supplies are now 'exhausted' and Gazans were facing starvation.
'As humanitarian donors, we have two straightforward messages for the Government of Israel: allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity,' the statement reads.
'We remain committed to meeting the acute needs we see in Gaza.
'We also reiterate our firm message that Hamas must immediately release all remaining hostages and allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference.'
The statement ends with a call for an immediate return to a ceasefire and the implementation of a two-state solution.
Hamas triggered the war after raiding Israel on October 7, 2023, slaughtering Jewish men, women and children and taking 240 people hostage.
Israel responded with a furious bombing and military campaign that has led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
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There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreigner. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive. The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase. Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US., Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered. Medics in the Gaza Strip said 45 people in total were killed in Israeli air strikes across the enclave on Saturday. 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The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. Families of remaining hostages fear that those alive are in danger from the continued Israeli offensive and those dead will be lost forever. Israel says the campaign is aimed at bringing them all back and ending Hamas rule in the enclave. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has been unable to distribute any humanitarian aid because Palestinian militants Hamas have issued "direct threats" against the organisation's operations. "These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk," the organisation said in a statement on Saturday. "GHF will not be deterred. We remain committed to safe, secure and independent aid delivery. We are actively adapting our operations to overcome these threats and fully intend to resume distributions without delay." The Israeli military on Saturday retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in the Gaza Strip since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz said, as Israeli airstrikes killed 45 people, according to local medics. Nattapong Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in south of the enclave, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified. Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza Strip border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war. Israel's military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to the Gaza Strip the bodies of two more US-Israeli hostages that were retrieved earlier this week. There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreigner. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive. The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase. Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US., Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered. Medics in the Gaza Strip said 45 people in total were killed in Israeli air strikes across the enclave on Saturday. At least 15 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded by air strikes in the Gaza City district of Sabra in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, local health authorities said. More than one missile landed in the area. The target seemed to have been a multi-floor residential building but the explosion damaged several other houses nearby, according to witnesses and media. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. It later warned people to leave the nearby district of Jabalia, saying it was going to strike there after rockets were launched by militants in the vicinity. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that Gaza's hospitals only had fuel for three more days and that Israel was denying access for international relief agencies to areas where fuel storages designated for hospitals are located. There was no immediate response from the Israeli military or COGAT, the Israeli defence agency that co-ordinates humanitarian matters with the Palestinian side. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. Families of remaining hostages fear that those alive are in danger from the continued Israeli offensive and those dead will be lost forever. Israel says the campaign is aimed at bringing them all back and ending Hamas rule in the enclave. The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has been unable to distribute any humanitarian aid because Palestinian militants Hamas have issued "direct threats" against the organisation's operations. "These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk," the organisation said in a statement on Saturday. "GHF will not be deterred. We remain committed to safe, secure and independent aid delivery. We are actively adapting our operations to overcome these threats and fully intend to resume distributions without delay." The Israeli military on Saturday retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in the Gaza Strip since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz said, as Israeli airstrikes killed 45 people, according to local medics. Nattapong Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in south of the enclave, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified. Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza Strip border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war. Israel's military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to the Gaza Strip the bodies of two more US-Israeli hostages that were retrieved earlier this week. There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreigner. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive. The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase. Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US., Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered. Medics in the Gaza Strip said 45 people in total were killed in Israeli air strikes across the enclave on Saturday. At least 15 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded by air strikes in the Gaza City district of Sabra in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, local health authorities said. More than one missile landed in the area. The target seemed to have been a multi-floor residential building but the explosion damaged several other houses nearby, according to witnesses and media. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. It later warned people to leave the nearby district of Jabalia, saying it was going to strike there after rockets were launched by militants in the vicinity. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that Gaza's hospitals only had fuel for three more days and that Israel was denying access for international relief agencies to areas where fuel storages designated for hospitals are located. There was no immediate response from the Israeli military or COGAT, the Israeli defence agency that co-ordinates humanitarian matters with the Palestinian side. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. Families of remaining hostages fear that those alive are in danger from the continued Israeli offensive and those dead will be lost forever. Israel says the campaign is aimed at bringing them all back and ending Hamas rule in the enclave.
