The Australian prime minister has joined forces with the leaders of Canada and New Zealand to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Anthony Albanese, Justin Trudeau, and Christopher Luxon released a joint statement on July 26 afternoon urging Israel to listen to concerns raised by the international community.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue,” the statement read.
“An immediate ceasefire is needed desperately.
“Civilians must be protected, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation.”
The three leaders urged Israel to respond to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ’s) ruling last week which deemed its occupation of Palestinian territories illegal.
“We call on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion, and ensure accountability for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, reverse the record expansion of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, and work towards a two-state solution,” the statement read.
“We are gravely concerned about the prospect of further escalation across the region.”
An escalation of hostilities and rhetoric between the militant anti-Israeli group Hezbollah and Israel was also flagged as a concern by the leaders.
Israel first took the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and has continued growing settlements in the West Bank.
It claims the territories are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands.
But many nations, including Australia, refer to the areas as “occupied territories.”
Israel’s months-long bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians since October, according to the local health ministry.
Almost 90 percent of Gazans, about 1.9 million people, have been displaced while 495,000 are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
The campaign was a response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, when the group killed 1200 people and took more than 200 hostages, according to the Israeli government.
