Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have called for restraint in targeting civilian lives as the death toll mounts from the Israel and Hamas war, while continuing to assert Israel’s right to respond to the deadly attack.
Wong on Monday repeated that Australia unequivocally condemned the assault on Israel by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and described the indiscriminate rocket fire, civilian attacks and taking of hostages over the weekend as “abhorrent acts”.
She also continued calling for restraint as the conflict escalated, despite criticism from Opposition frontbencher Michael Sukkar, who posted on X that “Israel has every right to defend itself with whatever force is required”.
“I think it is always the right thing for Australia to urge restraint and the protection of civilian lives,” Wong said in her Monday morning doorstop.
“Whatever people’s views about the history of this conflict, we can never condone the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages. I think that is something all Australians would agree with, or many Australians would agree with.”
She said Israel would make its own decisions about how to defend itself in circumstances where it was attacked overnight and civilians were targeted.
“But we will always, in any conference, urge all parties to look to protect civilian lives and I think that is the right thing to do.”
Read the article by Natassia Chrysanthos in The Sydney Morning Herald.