Anthony Albanese has reiterated his support for a truce between Israel and Hamas as a proposed ceasefire deal, brokered by the Biden administration, hangs in the balance following the rescue of four Israeli hostages on Saturday that resulted in scores of Palestinian casualties.
The remarks represent the Prime Minister’s first comments on the Israeli military operation that freed the four hostages, abducted by Hamas on October 7, following a dramatic raid carried out in the heart of Gaza’s Nuseirat district on Saturday morning.
However, the Israeli operation immediately cast a cloud over attempts by US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to successfully broker a ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and Hamas that would end Israel’s operations inside the embattled enclave and free the remaining hostages.
Speaking on Monday morning ahead of talks in Jordan on the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which will be attended by Mr Blinken and Labor minister Anne Aly, Mr Albanese repeated his government’s calls for a truce.
“I reiterate our call for civilians to be protected. There has been too much loss of life, both Israelis and Palestinians,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
“I reiterate the call for Hamas to release all of the hostages unconditionally, and I reiterate our support for President Biden’s peace proposal.
“We want a ceasefire. We want to deal with these issues in the short term, but we also want a long-term solution, and that requires a two-state solution.”
Mr Albanese also voiced his support for the reunification of the four hostages, who had been held captive for eight months.
“The taking of these hostages and keeping them in captivity close to where there are so many Palestinian civilians is an atrocity,” he said.
“And it is one of the things that leads us to call Hamas a terrorist organisation. It is (the) actions of a terrorist organisation.”
All four individuals were kidnapped by Palestinian militant group Hamas at an Israeli musical festival on October 7 where some 1200 people, most of them civilians, were killed.
Their rescue represents the IDF’s most successful attempt to date in freeing about 240 abductees – only three other hostages have been freed by previous Israeli military operations, while half of the original cohort were released in a temporary ceasefire in November.
116 hostages, dead and alive, remain in captivity.
In a statement, Hamas described Saturday’s IDF operation as “brutal and barbaric” and claimed it had resulted in the deaths of 210 Palestinians and a further 400 injuries.
Pressure is growing on Israel to limit its operations inside the embattled enclave and accept a ceasefire deal to halt Israel’s ground invasion, which has now entered its eight month and resulted in more 37,000 casualties, according to data from Palestinian authorities that does not distinguish between combatants and civilian deaths.
