Penny Wong warns Israel that occupying Gaza could violate international law

The Guardian

2 days ago

Penny Wong has urged Israel not to follow through on its plans to occupy Gaza, a step she said could constitute a breach of international law.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, Australia's foreign minister pushed back on Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to take control of the whole Gaza Strip. The plan approved by Israel's security cabinet after an overnight meeting on Thursday, to take over Gaza City, stopped short of that, but will likely displace tens of thousands of Palestinians already suffering from famine.
'Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,' Wong said.
'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international law.'
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Netanyahu's office said on social media that the Israel Defense Forces will prepare to take over Gaza City and to provide aid to civilians outside the areas of fighting. A post on X said: 'The Security Cabinet has approved the Prime Minister's proposal for defeating Hamas. The IDF will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones.'
Asked in an interview with Fox News if Israel would 'take control of all of Gaza', Netanyahu replied: 'We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there.' The Israeli prime minister added, 'we don't want to keep it', instead suggesting setting up 'a security perimeter' and a plan to 'hand [Gaza] over to Arab forces'.
Wong said Australia and international partners were maintaining ongoing calls for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and aid to flow unimpeded.
'A two-state solution is the only pathway to secure an enduring peace – a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally recognised borders,' she said.
Netanyahu's office also said on X that its priorities in occupying Gaza included demilitarisation of and Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip, as well as establishing 'an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority'.
Israel's pledge that it would not accept the Palestinian Authority as part of Gaza's future administration may complicate Australia's pathway to recognising a Palestinian state.
Anthony Albanese this week spoke with Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, and has repeatedly mentioned or invoked that organisation when asked about Australia's preconditions for recognising a Palestinian state.
Other nations such as Canada have conditioned their recognition of Palestine on reforms to the Palestinian Authority, including holding elections next year.
Australia's prime minister pledged to meet Abbas on the sidelines of the UN general assembly next month, the forum where it is speculated Australia could signal its intent on Palestinian recognition. Labor is under mounting pressure from inside and outside its own ranks to join the growing global moves toward recognising Palestine.
Greens senator David Shoebridge, the Greens' spokesperson on foreign affairs, said Israel's actions should be a 'red line' for the Australian government, urging Albanese to level new sanctions on senior members of the Israeli government and security forces that echo those put on the Russian government – including Magnitsky-style sanctions.
The shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, said the 'operational tactics' of Israel's military campaign in Gaza were 'a matter for the Israeli Government'.
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'The Coalition wants to see this war end and for no more civilians to suffer. We again call on the terrorist group Hamas to release their hostages and surrender to avoid further loss of human life,' Cash said in a brief statement.
'Russian-style sanctions on Israel would halt millions of dollars in trade that fuels the occupation and genocide in Palestine. These sanctions must also be extended to the Security Cabinet of Israel, which has just signed off on another bloody escalation in the genocide,' Shoebridge said in a statement.
'It's not good enough for the Albanese government to still be debating how strong our language should be … Increasingly harsh statements will not feed people, it will not stop the Israeli war machine. Sanctions will.'
Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said Israel had already essentially been an occupying power in Gaza since its military assault began following the 7 October 2023 terror attack by Hamas, where 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed and dozens of hostages captured.
But Rothwell said Israel's moves to further occupy and militarily control all of Gaza, as threatened by Netanyahu, raised concern about total annexation of the territory by Israel, and how that could affect global momentum toward recognising a Palestinian state.
'Israel's obligations as an occupying power are no different last week … They need to provide food, humanitarian aid and assistance to civilians, there's no change in their obligations,' he said.
'But [Wong] made the point this week, in the aligned recognition debate, that there might soon be no Palestine left to recognise. This is a further step which will further intensify those concerns by Australia and other like-minded countries.'