Australia is coordinating with the UK and other allies to “pressure” Israel to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop the erosion of longstanding norms protecting aid workers.
The Australian government has also explicitly backed the UK’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel, putting it at odds with the US, which is reported to have privately warned Britain against the move.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told Guardian Australia: “Australia is working with partners – including the UK – to put pressure to see a real change in the situation in Gaza.”
The latest comments are another sign of the Australian government’s hardening rhetoric about the Israeli assault on Gaza, where about 41,000 Palestinians have been killed over the past 11 months and many more have been injured and displaced from their homes.
About 1,200 people were killed in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and about 250 others were taken hostage, prompting the Australian Labor government to initially back Israel’s “right to self-defence”.
Labor is under increasing political pressure from the Greens and independent challengers in previously safe seats – and from its own rank-and-file members – to take a harder line against Israel’s conduct.
While it has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire since December, the Labor cabinet has so far resisted calls to describe Israel’s conduct as genocide and to impose sanctions against members of the Israeli government.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told the House of Commons last week that the government would suspend 30 of the 350 existing arms licences to Israel because of “a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Wong backed the move. “I welcome the decision of my UK counterpart,” she told Guardian Australia on Monday night.
“It reflects what we have been advocating throughout this conflict. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.”
Wong reiterated the Albanese government’s position that Australia “has not supplied weapons or ammunition to Israel” for at least the past five years.
“And earlier this year we made clear the only export permit applications approved for items to Israel are for those items returning to Australia for our own defence and law enforcement,” she said. This refers to temporary transfers for repairs and maintenance by Israeli firms.
When the Binskin report into the Israeli killing of the Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six colleagues in Gaza was released, Wong said Australia would work with the UN and the international community to press Israel to reform its coordination arrangements with humanitarian organisations.
A source familiar with the matter said the Australian government was working with countries that shared its concerns that “norms for the protection of aid workers are being eroded, with repercussions for current and future conflicts”.
Australia is expected to say more about these concerns in the lead-up to the next UN general assembly session.
It is also exchanging views with other countries about the facts on the ground and assessments about compliance with international humanitarian law.
Sources said the UK’s announcement on arms exports could provide Australia with “additional elements” to consider.
The US privately warned the UK against suspending arms sales amid claims it could hamper a ceasefire-and-hostage-release deal, according to a report published by the Times of London.
The degree of private discontent within the Biden administration about the UK decision is contested, but one UK Foreign Office source said it was comparable to the US anger when David Cameron as foreign secretary said Israel should not have veto power on recognising Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the UK government’s decision as “shameful” and “misguided” and said it would “only embolden Hamas”. Netanyahu said the decision would have no impact on “Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas”.
The UK suspension covers components for military aircraft, helicopters, drones and targeting equipment – but it almost entirely excludes all UK components for the F-35 fighter jet programme.
F-35 components have been exempted, officials say, because they are part of a global programme and the UK does not have unilateral control of these components, which are sent to the US.
Like the UK, the Australian government has faced criticism from pro-Palestine campaigners for its ongoing role in the global F-35 supply chain.
In a Senate estimates hearing in June, Defence officials emphasised that Australia had participated in the supply chain for the past 20 years and that all such parts were “exported to a central repository in the United States”.
The Greens have called on the government to limit this involvement and to stop all two-way military-related trade with Israel, including contracts in which Israeli defence firms supply to Australia.
– additional reporting by Patrick Wintour
