Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong’s office issued a statement on Monday night urging Israel not to invade Rafah: “Australia is gravely concerned by the prospect of a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has sought shelter in Rafah, from the fighting elsewhere. Australia, the G7 and so many countries have called on the Netanyahu government to change course.
“The foreign minister has made clear Australia’s view that Israel should not go down this path.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders have forcefully urged Israel not to invade Rafah – where about 1.5 million Palestinians have been sheltering after fleeing fighting in other parts of Gaza – because of the risk to civilian lives.
The Israeli government has said it is necessary to conduct ground operations in Rafah to dismantle the group’s remaining battalions.
All UN member states will be invited to cast a vote in the General Assembly on Friday (US time) on whether Palestine should be admitted to the global body as a fully fledged member, elevating it from its current observer status.
The US used its veto power to block a similar resolution at the UN Security Council last month, but the proposal attracted the support of 12 of the 15 voting nations, including France, South Korea and Japan.
The General Assembly vote is symbolic, but would be seen as an important litmus test for the level of support in the international community for Palestinian statehood.
Wong laid the groundwork for supporting such a resolution in a high-profile speech last month, in which she floated the prospect of recognising Palestine before a final peace deal with Israel, alarming local pro-Israel advocates.
As pro-Palestine encampments continue to expand on Australian university campuses, Albanese, at a press conference on Monday, opposed the widely used “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chant because he said it dismissed the two-state solution.
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The government previously angered the Israeli embassy in Canberra by voting for a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza and by restarting funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Palestinian territories.
Ambassadors from nations that supported the April Security Council resolution on full Palestinian UN membership were summoned for protest meetings in Israel following the vote.
“The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors: a political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognise a Palestinian state – six months after the October 7 massacre – is a prize for terrorism,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Oren Marmorstein said at the time.
The Albanese government, which has the option to abstain from voting, has not reached a final decision because the precise wording of the resolution is still being decided.
A draft General Assembly resolution circulating among member states describes Palestine as “a peace-loving state” that should be granted “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the sessions and work of the General Assembly … on equal footing with member states”.
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In a potential problem for the government given Australia’s close relationship with the US, the draft resolution expresses “deep regret and concern” that one permanent member vetoed the April Security Council resolution on admitting Palestine to the UN.
Palestine is represented at the UN by the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, a more moderate political rival to Hamas.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni called for the government to seize a “historic opportunity” to support Palestinian self-determination.
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“The Palestinian people must be granted their basic, inherent right to participate in decision-making at UN level, about issues that directly concern their lives and political aspirations,” he said.
“It’s outrageous that Palestine’s bid for self-determination via UN membership has been stalled and blocked since it first applied in 2011, as part of the ongoing process by Israel, backed by the US, to erase, invisibilise, suppress and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin urged the government to reject the resolution and pursue a “meaningful two-state solution instead of pandering to a Palestinian delusion”.
“A Palestinian state cannot simply be declared into existence. It has to exist in fact,” he said.
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