The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network calls on the Australian government to take urgent and decisive action to prevent the realisation of the ongoing Nakba, as Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza reaches catastrophic levels.
Israel’s ongoing genocide, its complete blockade on the essentials of life, and its declared intentions to “conquer” Gaza and “move the population south” signal the unfolding of a grave atrocity.
It has seized Rafah, and is in the process of converting it into a gateway for mass expulsion, as Israeli ministers openly call for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Israel’s permanent occupation of the territory.
This is not a moment of ambiguity. It is the realisation of the ongoing Nakba.
Israeli forces have, since October 2023, killed more than 52,000 Palestinians – a conservative number that does not account for the thousands of Palestinians missing, trapped under rubble, and in the grips of Israel’s manufactured famine in Gaza. It has rendered over 70% of Gaza uninhabitable, turning Palestinians cities, towns and agricultural land into no-go zones and erasing so-called “humanitarian zones.”
It has blocked aid trucks for over nine weeks, weaponising famine in an act of gross collective punishment.
Gaza’s physical, social and demographic viability is being eliminated by design. Life in the territory now hangs by a thread.
The international community, including Australia, must urgently intervene and prevent this genocide.
This moment represents a legal and moral reckoning for Australia’s newly elected Labor government.
More than a year ago, the International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel is committing genocide. Israel’s genocidal intent and its actions have only grown clearer, louder and more brutal in the long months since.
Australia, as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, has a legal obligation to prevent genocide, not just respond to it after the fact.
We therefore call on the Australian government to immediately:
- Unequivocally condemn Israel’s stated plans to conquer Gaza, forcibly transfer its population, and establish a military occupation in the territory.
- Publicly oppose any policy, plan or proposal that facilitates or legitimises the ethnic cleansing or permanent displacement of Palestinians.
- Immediately impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials or entities responsible for ordering, carrying out or inciting war crimes, the blockade of Gaza, or genocide.
- Suspend all military cooperation, trade and exports with Israel, whether direct or indirect, including the provision of parts or components.
- Use all diplomatic channels to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the unfettered entry of humanitarian aid to all areas of Gaza, using existing UN mechanisms.
- Call for the UN General Assembly to act under the “Uniting for Peace” resolution and authorise the urgent deployment of an international protection force, composed of ‘neutral’ or friendly states – not from countries complicit in the genocide – to protect Palestinians in Gaza.
Australia’s credibility and commitment to international law are at stake. And the lives of Palestinians in Gaza depend upon Australia joining the international community to put an end to Israel’s impunity, and stop its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.