Israel’s ambassador to Australia has insisted the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fair” after Penny Wong’s warning that the besieged strip had “nowhere near enough” access to aid supplies.
The Australian foreign minister called on Wednesday for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities, so food, water, medicine and other essential assistance can reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety”.
The Israeli ambassador, Amir Maimon, pointed to the recent entry of aid trucks from Egypt to the Gaza Strip when asked about Wong’s comments.
“With all due respect, the minister for foreign affairs represents Australia and I represent Israel,” he said. “According to our information and my knowledge, the humanitarian situation is fair.”
Maimon said there was “no moral equivalence” between Israel and Hamas: “We are the victims, we are not the aggressors.”
Maimon said he was engaged “in very close discussions with senior Australian officials and Israel will do its utmost in order to make sure that all foreign nationals will be safe and will be able to evacuate Gaza if they wish to do so”.
Maimon made the comments after the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for an immediate ceasefire to ease the “epic suffering” in Gaza, after more than 700 people were reportedly killed in a single day and hospitals began to shut down for lack of fuel.
Maimon told the National Press Club in Canberra he was confident bipartisan support for Israel was “beyond doubt” in Australia.
He urged the world not to “look away” from the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and about 220 others were taken hostage.
Maimon predicted a call between the two prime ministers, Anthony Albanese and Benjamin Netanyahu, would happen soon. Israel would “warmly welcome” a visit by any senior Australian government representative.
Maimon did not criticise the federal cabinet minister, Ed Husic, for publicly airing concerns that innocent Palestinians were being “collectively punished for Hamas’ barbarism”.
Maimon said he had “lots of respect” for Husic and did not believe the industry minister was out of line with the Australian government’s overall position.
The ambassador argued Israel was “absolutely” complying with international humanitarian law, despite comments from an Israel defence force spokesperson on 10 October that the emphasis was on “damage, not on accuracy”.
Maimon said the war was against Hamas, “not against the Palestinian people”. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Gaza’s total death toll after 18 days of bombing stands at 5,791, including 2,360 children.
Maimon denied that the Israeli government had shown blatant disregard for Palestinian civilians. “Not at all,” he said.
“You don’t measure the adherence of a nation to the international law by the toll of casualties on the other side. You measure it by its compliance to the law by its determination to avoid – as Israel is doing – harming innocent Palestinians.”
Maimon said it was “hard to understand why the world finds it a bit more challenging to stand behind Israel all the way”.
Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said he “would not take such an unequivocal position as the ambassador”.
Rothwell said there were signs that Israel was trying to comply with international humanitarian law, such as giving notice to civilians to evacuate parts of Gaza so as to avoid air bombardment.
“But the increasing intensity of the bombing and air campaign in Gaza makes it impossible to apply the principle of distinction between Hamas fighters and civilians,” Rothwell said.
“The means of warfare being conducted by the IDF from the air by way of missile and airstrikes does not allow for the international humanitarian law principle of distinction to be applied in such a heavily populated area such as Gaza.”
The head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi, said the situation in Gaza was “very dire” and amounted to “collective punishment”.
“This exceeds to a large extent the concept of self-defence,” he told ABC TV.
Members of Australia’s Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group called for an immediate ceasefire, saying they stood “with innocent Palestinians and Israelis now suffering as a result of this ongoing conflict”.
The group’s co-chairs – the Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou, the Nationals MP Mark Coulton and the Greens senator Janet Rice – condemned the attacks on innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas, saying these were in breach of international humanitarian law.
They added: “Israel’s attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza are in breach of international humanitarian law. We condemn such attacks on Palestinian civilians.”
At a Senate hearing, the chief of the Australian defence force, Gen Angus Campbell, warned of a potentially protracted conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying it appeared to be only “in its early stages”.
The government announced it was sending some troops and two Royal Australian air force aircraft to the region “as a contingency”.
