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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent

Wong acknowledges ‘widespread suffering’, stops short of describing Israel’s Gaza siege as collective punishment

Penny Wong Gaza Israel Hamas Joe Biden Jordon SteeleJohn Anthony Albanese United States
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has expressed her frustration at being unable to secure a humanitarian aid corridor in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has expressed her frustration at being unable to secure a humanitarian aid corridor in Gaza. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Penny Wong has acknowledged “widespread suffering” of civilians in Gaza but has stopped short of saying Israel’s siege amounts to collective punishment of Palestinians, during a fiery Senate committee hearing.

The Australian foreign minister was challenged by the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to concede that Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip met the “textbook definition of collective punishment”.

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