Gaza crisis: Penny Wong warns there’ll be ‘no Palestine left to recognise’ if conflict drags on

The world faces the risk there will be “no Palestine left to recognise” unless the international community moves to create the path towards a two-state solution, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has warned.

Senator Wong’s stark analysis of the Middle East crisis on Tuesday followed reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing a bid to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, despite objections from within the Israeli Defence Forces.

Asked for her response to the reports on ABC Radio News Breakfast, the Foreign Minister repeated the Government’s long-held position that there can be no peace and security for the people of Israel without resolving the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Momentum is building among several Australian allies, including France, Canada and the UK, to recognise Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September if Israel does not end its war in Gaza.

The Albanese Government has, so far, refused to break from its years-long position on the Middle East peace process, but the Prime Minister faces mounting public pressure to shift course after almost 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestine march across Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday to protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Since last year, the Government has repeatedly said it is a question of “when, not if,” it recognises Palestine but has stipulated strict conditions under which it would do so, including ensuring terrorist group Hamas has no future role in a Palestinian state.

Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted progress such as the Palestinian Authority’s condemnation of the October 7 terrorist attacks and its call for the liberation of hostages and the disarmament of Hamas.

Mr Albanese spoke overnight to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, reiterating Australia’s call for the immediate entry of aid to Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire and agreed to meet the Palestinian leader on the sidelines of the UNGA.

The Prime Minister is also pursuing a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coming days although, so far, a date has not been set.

Senator Wong told the ABC that it was important for governments to maintain high level dialogue on the situation.

She said the weekend’s march was a sign of the “distress of Australians” about the “catastrophic humanitarian situation, the deaths of women and children, the withholding of aid,” in Gaza.

“They (marches) do reflect the broad Australian community’s horror at what is going on in the Middle East, and the desire for peace and a ceasefire, which is what the Government is seeking in relation to recognition,” she said.

Senator Wong also condemned the “depraved spectacle” of videos of emaciated October 7 Israeli hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in recent days.

However, she aligned the Government’s view with an open letter from 600 former Israeli officials that publicly called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to end the war as the only way to save the hostages.

The retired security officials, including former heads of intelligence agencies and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge the Israeli government to call a ceasefire.

“It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the officials said.

Senator Wong pointed to important statements from the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League condemning Hamas and its actions.

“We do have a unique opportunity at this moment in the world to isolate a terrorist organisation which can never be part of peace,” she said.

But Opposition shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser told the ABC that putting Palestinian recognition on the table now would be the wrong move as it would ease pressure on Hamas and send a “bad signal” to other areas of conflict in the world.

“It says to people that terrorist organisations … the more pressure that you put on, the more intransigent you are, the more likely you are to achieve your ends. I think it’s very important that we do nothing that encourages Hamas in its activities,” he said.

Mr Leeser said the Coalition had always supported the idea of a two-state solution but that “we’re a long way from that today.”

To achieve progress, “we need to see Hamas, which we list as a terrorist organisation, lay down its weapons, recognize Israel’s right to exist and, importantly, release the hostages,” he said.

“We’ve always said that recognition of a Palestinian state needs to come at the end of a process, not at the beginning of a process.”