From 35m agoKey events15m agoPenny Wong says Israel has right to defend but urges ‘restraint’ to protect civilians22m agoAustralian landmarks light up in colours of Israeli flag35m agoAllegra Spender wants ‘urgent explanation’ over pro-Palestine demonstration in Sydney40m agoHamas supporters in Australia ‘could be committing a crime’, Clare O’Neil warns50m agoForty MPs and senators sign statement backing Israel1h agoLinda Burney clashes with Natasha Wanganeen on Q+A1h agoAustralia calls on Hamas to release hostages1h agoGood morningFilters BETAKey events (8)Israel (8)Australia (6)Hamas (5)ABC RN (4)Sydney (4)now16.59 EDT
Penny Wong is asked about some anti-semitic comments made by people at the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney last night:
I think two things. The first thing I would say is there’s no place for anti-semitism in our society.
And the second thing I would say is, we know this is conflict or this is a region of the world where there has been long-standing dispute, long standing suffering of violence on all sides.
Nothing justifies what we have seen Hamas engage.
…I’ve spoken before about our position in terms of seeking an … an enduring two state solution, which recognises the legitimate aspirations of Jewish and Palestinian peoples. I think that is a very separate argument to what we are seeing now.
Nothing justifies the violence, the hostage taking, the killing of civilians, the awful scenes we have seen Hamas engaging in.
12m ago16.47 EDT
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong told ABC RN the government is seeking to confirm the welfare of any Australians who may have been caught up in this attack:
I repeat what I said yesterday that if there are Australians in Israel [or] in the Palestinian territories, we would urge you to contact your families to make sure we can verify your safety and they are aware of your safety.
Wong said she is aware of reports that major airlines including Emirates and American Airlines are pulling their flights from Tel Aviv and they are “very concerning” for people trying to leave.
The advice to me today is obviously Tel Aviv airport remains open. And there are commercial commercial options available, although I noticed that they are narrowing and there have been quite a lot of flight cancellations. So we have asked where we’re continuing to monitor that, and we will do that.
15m ago16.44 EDT
Penny Wong says Israel has right to defend but urges ‘restraint’ to protect civilians
Q: Does that right to defend itself extend to what looks like collective punishment?
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong:
We’ve said Israel has a right to defend itself [and] we call for all hostages to be released. But we also have a principle position which we would advocate to all nations and all groups and all situations, which is we would urge for the protection of civilian lives and restraint …
I don’t think that’s a decision that it is easy to make from overseas … but I would say this – I…
2023-10-09 15:51:55
Article from www.theguardian.com
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