Anthony Albanese will not formally recognise Palestine at UN General Assembly, says Israel breached international law

Anthony Albanese has said he believes Israel has “quite clearly” breached international law through its treatment of innocent civilians in Gaza, but will not follow French President Emmanuel Macron and formally recognise a Palestinian State when he heads to the United Nations General Assembly in September. This follows global condemnation of Israel for restricting aid to civilians trapped in Gaza, with health authorities reporting 123 people have died of starvation and malnutrition. The Israeli military has since said it will begin aid airdrops, and establish humanitarian corridors for United Nations convoys to allow for the delivery of food. Speaking to ABC on Sunday, the Prime Minister said he was heartbroken by the images of starving children coming out of Gaza. While he welcomed the resumption of aid as “a start,” he reiterated the condemnation of civilian deaths as “completely unacceptable” and “completely indefensible”. “This is a start, but we need to make sure that people who are innocent … including the young boy who people will have seen that image of just breaks your heart, a one-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter,” he said. When pressed, Mr Albanese also said Israel’s actions are “quite clearly” a breach of international law, given “international law says that you can’t hold innocent people responsible for what is a conflict”. “I’m a supporter of Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself, but that boy isn’t challenging Israel’s right to existence, and nor are the many who continue to suffer from the unavailability of food and water,” he said. However, Australia will not follow France, who has become the first large Western power to confirm it will formally recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly, joining about 75 per cent of member states. Mr Albanese said that, while Australia “will make a decision at an appropriate time,” there needed to be more detail on how a Palestinian state would function before he was comfortable making that commitment. “How do you exclude Hamas from any involvement there? How do you ensure that a Palestinian State operates in an appropriate way which does not threaten the existence of Israel?” he said. “And so we won’t do any decision as a gesture. We will do it as a way forward, if the circumstances are met.” Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash criticised Mr Albanese for not putting more blame on Hamas and its continued refusal to release hostages taken on October 7, 2023. However, Mr Albanese has made repeated comments calling on Hamas to release the hostages, and has reiterated his condemnation of the terrorist organisation. Senator Cash added that while the statement said that Australia wants to “to see the end of the war in Gaza,” the “next sentence should have been: ‘And we call on the terrorists Hamas, who commenced this war and who are ensuring the suffering of the civilians in Gaza to end this war tomorrow’”. “Does Israel have a moral responsibility? Yes. Should Israel be getting more aid in to civilians in Gaza? Absolutely,” she said. “And I call on the Israeli government to work with the international agencies to get that aid to the civilians but let us not be blind … to the reality.” Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked on Sunday afternoon whether Australia was obligated to act given Mr Albanese had said Israel was breaching international law. “The Prime Minister made out position clear this morning, it is forbidden to withhold aid from civilians, that is not consistent with international law,” Ms Wong said. “But actually, as importantly, it’s morally the wrong thing to do, it’s ethically the wrong thing to do.”