Anyone who has seen the heroic efforts of doctors trying to keep their patients alive at al-Shifa and the death and utter devastation brought on by the Israeli forces should have their humanity shaken to the core. Now is the time to channel your humanity and conscience, if you have any, and demand a ceasefire.
Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (15:32): I move:
That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice asked by Senator Steele-John today relating to Gaza.
I rise to take note of the government’s response to Greens questions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. How many Palestinians will be massacred before the Labor government calls for a ceasefire? Do you have no heart, no compassion, no moral compass? Gaza is being annihilated. Gaza is being wiped out. Yet you do absolutely nothing.
By any definition of the rules of engagement, medical facilities and hospitals are not to be attacked, but Israel has continued to violate this with complete immunity and cover from governments like ours. Al-Shifa hospital, which is the largest medical facility in Gaza, is under siege. MSF has said that they denounce the death warrant of civilians trapped in al-Shifa hospital signed by the Israeli military. One MSF staff member at the hospital said:
There are dead people on the streets. We see people being shot at. We can see injured people. We hear them crying for help, but we cannot do anything. It is too dangerous to go outside.
There have already been reports of multiple deaths of patients and premature babies and those sheltering inside the hospital. No-one really knows how many now.
Anyone who has seen the heroic efforts of doctors trying to keep their patients alive at al-Shifa and the death and utter devastation brought on by the Israeli forces should have their humanity shaken to the core. Now is the time to channel your humanity and conscience, if you have any, and demand a ceasefire.
I will continue reading the names of those who have been murdered in Gaza, a list which is growing faster than I can get through it. I will make you hear their names. They are not collateral damage. These are people. They are lives, dreams and hopes extinguished by a brutal occupying force.
As I read each name, think of each precious life that’s been torn from their loved ones, each life that you said was a permissible murder in the name of self-defence: Lina Hammam Mustafa Abu Toha, aged six; Abdullah Muhammad Jamal Abdel Nasser Al-Azayza, six; Karim Ziad Muhammad Al-Muqayd, six; Maryam Mujahid Khader Abu Toha, six; Iman Ibrahim Youssef Hussein, six; Lynn Raed Nayef Al-Sharafi, six; Obaida Amer Yahya Al-Balaawi, six; Sowar Muhammad Khader Abu Toha, five; Muhammad Salim Muhammad Abu Qouta, five; Abdul Rahman Muhammad Abdul Jawad Abu Ras, five; Maher Asaad Maher Abu Lashin, five; Anas Jihad Mahmoud Al-Akhras, five; Ataf Hudhayfah Salah Abu Shakyan, five; Juri Abdullah Salah Abu Shakyan, five; Muhammad Ibrahim Radwan Shabat, four; Ahmed Muhammad Alyan Al-Bayouk, four; Abd al-Jawad Muhammad Abd al-Jawad Abu Ras, four; Adam Ali Musa Hussein, four; Sarah Amer Yahya Al-Balaawi, four; Lamar Adi Abdel Jawad Abu Ras, four; Tala Amin Marwan Abu Shakyan, four; Abdul Khaleq Khaled Radwan Shabat, four; Faten Rajab Muhammad Al-Nakib, four; Layan Muhammad Sobhi Abu Lashin, four; Bayan Abdul Khaleq Radwan Shabat, four; Maria Hudhayfah Salah Abu Shakyan, four; Muhammad Rajab Muhammad Al-Naqib, three; Raghad Hani Khaled Abu Al-Naga, three; Youssef Hammam Mustafa Abu Toha, three; Zain Ziyad Ahmed Al-Muqayd, three; Judy Asaad Maher Abu Lashin, three; Ghaith Khaled Radwan Shabat, three; Abdel Nour Amin Marwan Abu Shakyan, two; Ahmed Odeh Muhammad Hussein, two; Muhammad Mahmoud Youssef Hussein, two; Aseel Muhammad Khader Abu Touha, two; Lian Muhammad Abdel Jawad Abu Ras, two; Amir Ahmed Abdel Jawad Abu Ras, two—
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Faruqi.
Question agreed to.