The Zionist Federation of Australia condemns a joint statement released by Australia, New Zealand and Canada that urges Israel not to launch an operation against Hamas strongholds in the southern Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
“It is extremely disappointing and frankly unreasonable for the Government to call for the removal of Hamas from power as the only pathway to end the war and simultaneously call on Israel to refrain from entering Rafah to remove the last remaining Hamas stronghold,” says ZFA president Jeremy Leibler.
“It places Israel in an impossible position and sets a precedent that terrorist organizations will have immunity by hiding behind civilians,” he says.
“The Hamas-Israel war could end tomorrow, if only Hamas were to surrender and release the hostages. While the Australian Government has rightly reiterated this point, we call on all governments, including Australia, to focus their efforts on applying this pressure on Hamas. This is the only pathway to addressing the significant humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ending the war,” Leibler says.
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