©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Maritime Cooperation Forum, in Melbourne, Australia, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was undermining Israel with his approach to the war in Gaza and urged the country to change course or lose even more international support.
US President Biden said on Saturday that Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping it” by waging the war in a way that goes against the country’s values.
Asked about his comments on Tuesday, Wong agreed and said international support for Israel will continue to weaken if the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza is not addressed.
“There was a terrorist attack on October 7 and the world was rightly very sympathetic and sympathetic to Israel at that time,” Wong said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday.
“I think the world is horrified by the current situation… and I would say that unless Israel changes course, it will continue to lose support.”
The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts. Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza has killed 31,000 Palestinians so far, Gaza officials say.
The conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, and a quarter of the population is at risk of starvation, according to United Nations estimates.
Wong’s latest comments about Israel are part of a growing chorus of voices, even among its staunchest allies, calling for the country to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as it plans an assault on the southern city of Rafah.
Canada, Australia and New Zealand called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in a joint statement last month. Wong said the three countries had come together to “amplify” their voices.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday appealed for a truce and said the threatened assault on Rafah could put Gaza’s people in “an even deeper circle of hell.”
Israel has said it will not stop the war until it eradicates the Hamas militant organization.