‘It must end’: Australia, New Zealand, Canada call for immediate Gaza ceasefire
Countries’ leaders say in joint statement civilians can’t ‘be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas,’ demand Israel ‘respond substantively’ to ICJ ruling on West Bank presence
Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court that last week ruled that the West Bank settlements and Israel’s military rule there are illegal.
“Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community,” the leaders of the three countries said in a joint statement.
“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end,” the leaders said, adding that they “remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas.”
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement program in the West Bank, and work toward a two-state solution.
Israel’s Embassy in Australia on Thursday said it condemned acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
Last Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand called on Israel to “respond substantively” to the July 19 ruling of the ICJ about the illegality of Israel’s military control over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
The Foreign Ministry rejected the ICJ opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can only be reached by negotiations.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — areas the Palestinians now want for a state — from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 Six Day War.
The United Nations and most of the international community regard the areas as illegally occupied. Israel rejects the argument, saying its settlements are on disputed land.
Ottawa’s, Canberra’s and Wellington’s joint statement, the second since February, expressed concern about escalating violence with Hezbollah on Israel’s border with Lebanon, and said the risk of a wider regional war made a ceasefire in Gaza all the more urgent.
The Iran-backed terror group began shelling mostly evacuated communities in northern Israel on October 8, a day after Hamas’s thousands-strong shock assault on southern Israel that left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw 251 taken hostage, sparking the war in Gaza.
The leaders’ statement came hours after US Vice President Kamala Harris urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians and free the remaining hostages, striking a somewhat tougher tone than US President Joe Biden has.
On Thursday, Canberra announced sanctions on seven extremist settlers whom Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused of violent attacks on Palestinians, including “beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injury and in some cases, death.”
