I want to go to a different subject with Senator Wong. Of course the eyes of the world are on what’s happening at Rafah right now, and the government’s eyes are certainly very much on what the next steps are. I noted a post on the weekend from X, the old Twitter, that you posted, referring to reports of Israel’s plans for a military operation in Rafah. We know there are a lot of civilians sheltering there. What are Australia and our partners in the international community saying about the Israeli military operation in Rafah? What is your comment there?
Senator SHELDON: That would be helpful, thank you. I want to go to a different subject with Senator Wong. Of course the eyes of the world are on what’s happening at Rafah right now, and the government’s eyes are certainly very much on what the next steps are. I noted a post on the weekend from X, the old Twitter, that you posted, referring to reports of Israel’s plans for a military operation in Rafah. We know there are a lot of civilians sheltering there. What are Australia and our partners in the international community saying about the Israeli military operation in Rafah? What is your comment there?
Senator Wong: Obviously I can make some comment about this. The first thing I’d say is that obviously the context of this is well known to us all. The context also is that 153 countries, including Australia, have called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. You asked specifically about Rafah. Many of Australia’s like-minded partners, many of Israel’s friends, have expressed deep concerns about the reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah. The US said it would be a disaster and they shouldn’t proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety of more than a million people sheltering there. The German Prime Ministry has said it would be a humanitarian catastrophe. Canada has said it would have a devastating impact. The Netherlands has called it unjustifiable and the United Kingdom says it is deeply concerned. What I would say is that it is our view that Israel should listen to its friends and to the international community.
I would also make the point that there are more than a million civilians sheltering in and around Rafah. Many were displaced as a consequence of Israeli operations in the north, so they moved south to this area, often under Israeli direction or as a consequence of warnings. What Australia would say is that Israel must now exercise special care in relation to these civilians, and not doing so would have devastating consequences for those civilians and would do serious harm to Israel’s own interests.
Senator SHELDON: Thank you for those thoughts, Minister. It’s an important time.