Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued a statement with his counterparts from New Zealand and Canada urging Israel not to move ahead with a planned ground invasion into Rafah.
The Prime Minister said a military operation into the city in southern Gaza would be “catastrophic” and Israel “must listen to its friends and the international community”.
About 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, located at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. The city now houses over a million refugees in tents and makeshift shelters, up from a population of about 300,000 before October 7.
Rafah is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and essentials items into Gaza.
“We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah,” the statement said.
“With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating.
“We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go.”
The statement repeated calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, release of hostages and the need for access of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. It said that Palestinian civilians “cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas”.
“Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be provided to civilians,” it said.
“The International Court of Justice has been clear: Israel must ensure the delivery of basic services and essential humanitarian assistance and must protect civilians. The Court’s decisions on provisional measures are binding.”
The statement represents a significant strengthening of language from a statement in December in which the leaders said they supported “urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire”.
It also followed similar sentiments from Australia and New Zealand’s Foreign Ministers Penny Wong and Winston Peters earlier this week
“The level of inhumanity is out of all proportion now. And whether it’s justified or not, the reality is you can’t justify this. That’s the view of the mass majority of the countries in the world now, including the people we’ve been talking to,” Peters said on Thursday.
“This is now way – and has been for some time – out of hand.”
He said the conflict had escalated beyond the right for Israel to defend itself.
More than 28,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the beginning of the war, according to local authorities.
About 1,139 Israelis have been killed, according to news channel Al Jazeera.
