Australia joins UK, Germany, Italy and New Zealand in condemning Israel’s planned Gaza City takeover | Australian foreign policy

Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has joined fresh international condemnation of Israel’s plans to control more of Gaza in a new ground offensive, warning it risks breaching international law and putting the lives of hostages and civilians in renewed danger.

Wong joined the foreign ministers of Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the UK in a joint statement on Saturday, saying the plans by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to control Gaza City will make an already perilous situation worse.

They said the “worst-case scenario” of mass famine was already unfolding in Gaza.

“The plans that the government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law. Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law,” the statement said.

“It will aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians.”

Netanyahu’s war cabinet on Friday went against the advice of Israel’s military leaders to agree on a further escalation in the 22-month war, planning a full takeover of Gaza’s largest city that is likely to result in mass displacement of an estimated 1 million Palestinians.

The moves sparked international outrage, though the plan has not been opposed by the US president, Donald Trump, Netanyahu’s strongest backer internationally.

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Germany’s government moved quickly to suspend the delivery of weapons that could be used in the fighting.

Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said it was significant that Germany had joined the latest statement, “as throughout the Israel/Hamas conflict it has been an unwavering supporter of Israel”.

“That the joint statement references ‘annexation of or settlement’ of Gaza clearly reflect a growing concern amongst these countries as to Israel’s ultimate intention towards Gaza,” Rothwell said. “If Israel was to pursue annexation or to expand settlements in Gaza then the prospect of a ‘Two-State solution’ would be scuttled.”

Wong and her counterparts said terror group Hamas and the Israeli government should work with the international community to end the war through an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Such a development must enable the provision of a massive, immediate and unimpeded humanitarian assistance, “as the worst-case scenario of a famine is unfolding in Gaza”.

“Hamas must release all hostages without further delay or precondition and must ensure they are humanely treated and not subject to cruelty and humiliation,” the statement said.

“We call on the government of Israel to urgently find solutions to amend its recent registration system of international humanitarian organisations, to ensure these vital actors of humanitarian aid can continue their essential work again in line with humanitarian principles to reach the civilians in need in Gaza.

“Their exclusion would be an egregious signal.”

Hamas said in a statement that Netanyahu’s plans meant he had abandoned the surviving hostages seized by the group in its surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, which triggered the war. The statement accused the Israeli prime minister of “sacrificing them to serve his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda”.

Countries including Australia have called for a political solution in Gaza that does not involve any of the Hamas leadership. Israel said it wanted to eventually hand control of Gaza over to a group of friendly Arab forces who are opposed to Hamas.

Netanyahu has released a list of five key objectives for the escalated fighting: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the entire Gaza Strip, taking security control of the territory, and establishing “an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.

Wong said on Friday Israel should not go down its planned path, and permanent forced displacement would be a violation of international law.

But frequent statements from world leaders appear not to be deterring Israel.

Netanyahu’s office told international media the Israeli army would prepare to “take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones”.

Rothwell said that Israel was already an occupying power under the 1949 Geneva Convention, and “has been acting as an occupation force in most of Gaza in recent months”, noting it was thus obligated to provide food, water, and health supplies to civilians in Gaza.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was expected to discuss the war during a meeting with his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, in Queenstown on Saturday.