Gaza conflict: Foreign Minister Penny Wong under pressure to visit Hamas attack sites on Middle East trip
Pressure is mounting on Penny Wong to visit the Israeli towns where Hamas attacks took place when she visits the Middle East in a bid to help put an end to the conflict in Gaza.
The foreign minister leaves on Monday to travel to Israel, Jordan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Arab Emirates over the week and will meet with regional counterparts.
Senator Wong will meet with the Israeli families of hostages and survivors of the October 7 attacks, as well as Palestinians impacted by Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.
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Meeting the families and survivors of the attack would be important, the foreign minister said ahead of her departure on Monday.
“Australia is not a central player in the Middle East, but we are a respected voice and I’ll be using our voice to advocate for a pathway out of this conflict,” she told reporters in Adelaide.
The program “appears half-hearted”, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham.
“The failure to visit any of the sites of the October 7 Hamas attacks will disappoint many and deprive Senator Wong of a full appreciation of the atrocities committed,” he said.
Jewish groups in Australia have also expressed disappointment.
“A visit to Ground Zero of the worst anti-Semitic attack since the Holocaust would have been an important show of solidarity with Israel and Jewish Australians,” Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said.
The decision was “insulting and deeply concerning”, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said.
“It’s essential to understanding the depth of evil that Israel faces and the necessity of its war to defeat Hamas,” he said.
“Intentionally bypassing such a visit is a serious error of judgment and we hope the Foreign Minister reconsiders this decision.”
The foreign minister again called for Israel to respect international law and allow unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access so food, fuel and medicine could reach Gazans.
Australia wanted to see steps towards a sustainable ceasefire but it couldn’t be one-sided, Senator Wong said.
“Gaza must no longer be used as a platform for terrorism,” she said.
Senator Wong’s visit to Israel will be the first by a foreign minister since 2016.
It comes after Sunday marked 100 days since Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by Australia - killed 1200 Israelis and took 240 hostage.
Israel has since bombarded Gaza with air strikes which local authorities say have killed more than 23,000 people and displaced 1.9 million, or 85 per cent of the besieged strip’s population.
The trip comes just days after Australia supported the US and UK’s bombing of Houthi rebel controlled territory in Yemen following the Iran-backed group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The rebels have launched assaults in the trade route in response to Israel’s strikes on Gaza.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected suggestions Australia’s support for the joint action against the Houthis had been inadequate after it increased the number of personnel at the operations centre in the region.
“We’re making an appropriate contribution as Australia always does,” he told ABC radio.
