The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) demands that the Australian Government take immediate and decisive action, including imposing sanctions on Israel, to stop Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in northern Gaza.
Since 5 October 2024, Israel has launched an unrelenting assault on northern Gaza, subjecting more than 400,000 Palestinians to a near-total siege and manufactured starvation.
Eyewitnesses report that Israeli troops are going school to school in Jabalia and surrounding areas, forcibly removing unarmed, starved Palestinians from their homes under the cover of heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling.
According to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, Palestinians “are waiting to die” as they are cut off from food, water, medical care, and humanitarian aid. He has reported that bodies are left to decay in the streets while Israeli authorities deny entry to humanitarian organisations.
Israel’s genocidal offensive systematically targets homes and shelters, razing or burning buildings – including UN schools – to prevent displaced families from returning. Leading Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem reports that Israel’s Occupation Forces have forcibly displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians, bombed hospitals and shelters, and used relentless firepower to annihilate northern Gaza’s remaining residents.
Israeli forces have separated men from women, subjecting them to humiliating field interrogations, and abducting many to unknown locations. Women and children attempting to flee have been bombed and killed, according to media reports.
These war crimes defy comprehension, yet western governments, including Australia’s, refuse to act, allowing Israel to carry out the gravest crimes of war – mass killing and the systematic displacement of Palestinians.
APAN, and people of good conscience across this continent, demand the Australian Government act on its legal and moral obligations to prevent these atrocities by:
- Imposing sanctions on Israeli officials and entities responsible for genocide, war crimes, and international law violations.
- Implementing a two-way arms embargo on Israel, immediately halting all military exports and blocking any military cooperation that supports Israel’s assault on Gaza.
- Applying pressure to Israel for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to ensure life-saving aid reaches Palestinians.
- Pursuing and supporting accountability for Israel at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court to ensure justice for the people of Palestine.
Australia has a duty to act and to use every political, legal, and economic tool available to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its violations of international law across the region.