The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) demands urgent Australian action as Israel moves to escalate its already devastating, and illegal, blockade on Gaza under a program reportedly referred to as the “hell plan.”
This plan, which aims to cut off essential food, water and electricity supplies to Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians, is an egregious violation of international law and an unacceptable intensification of the ongoing humanitarian disaster that Israel has manufactured in the besieged territory.
Despite an initial ceasefire agreement, which Israel has violated more than 350 times in the past six weeks, the Israeli government has refused to move to the second phase of the ceasefire, opting instead to extend the first phase while maintaining its crippling blockade and threatening to escalate its genocidal attacks.
This refusal to adhere to international agreements and instead push forward with a policy of collective punishment is an escalation that must be met with swift and unequivocal condemnation from the Australian government.
APAN urges Foreign Minister Penny Wong to take immediate and decisive action, publicly denounce Israel’s “hell plan” and demand an end to the blockade of food, water, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The deliberate deprivation of basic necessities to an already vulnerable population is an explicit violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and constitutes a war crime.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, with reports of skyrocketing food prices and a shortage of essential goods leaving families desperately struggling to survive.
For Australia to allow Israel to continue this policy of starvation and collective punishment would be a legal and moral failure.
The Australian government must use its diplomatic influence, and all legal and economic tools at its disposal, to apply pressure to Israel for it to halt its “hell plan” and to protect the lives of Palestinians.
Comments attributed to APAN President Nasser Mashni:
“Israel’s so-called ‘hell plan’ is a barbaric act of collective punishment, deliberately starving 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. This is not just a humanitarian catastrophe – it is a calculated, and deliberate expression of the intention to commit a war crime, unfolding in real time.
“Palestinians in Gaza have endured months of relentless bombardment, mass displacement, starvation and unspeakable terror. Now Israel is tightening the noose with a blockade designed to push Palestinians beyond the brink.
“International law isn’t upheld by words – it’s upheld by action. Australia cannot demand that Israel abide by international law while ignoring its own obligation to enforce it. Talk about a “rules-based order” is meaningless without concrete actions to defend it.
“The Australian government must condemn this plan, and Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on Palestinians, outright, or face being accused of complicity in Israel’s siege and starvation.”