The Palestinian Authority’s representative in Canberra has called on the Albanese government to take an active role brokering peace in the Middle East after the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel.
Izzat Abdulhadi’s comments followed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s condemnation of attacks on Israel by militant Palestinian group Hamas at the weekend as abhorrent as he asserted Israel’s right to defend itself.
“Of course people are worried about escalation, but Israel has a right to defend itself and it will be doing so. This is an attack on Israel by Hamas that has no precedent,” Albanese said on Sunday.
He did not repeat a call, made by Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a statement on Saturday night, for the exercise of restraint and protection of civilian lives.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also condemned Hamas’ attack as a deliberate act of violence that had provoked Israel, which he said had every right to defend itself in response. However, he did not repeat criticism of Wong’s statement by Liberal MP Michael Sukkar, who said the call for restraint was “unbelievable”.
Greens foreign affairs spokesman Jordon Steele-John said he rejected all violence against civilians and called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Read the article by Natassia Chrysanthos and Carrie Fellner in The Sydney Morning Herald.