Gaza: Julie Bishop says shelling of UN schools 'indefensible' and 'shocking'
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Version 0 of 1. Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has described the shelling of United Nations schools in Gaza as “indefensible” and “shocking” and called on Israel to take steps to prevent civilian deaths. The Australian government has previously criticised Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and called for all parties to commit to a ceasefire, but has been restrained in criticism of Israel. Israel has faced growing international condemnation over the shelling of UN schools that were sheltering civilians including children. A 72-hour ceasefire, sponsored by Egypt, is due to begin on Tuesday. In a statement, Bishop said the Australian government was deeply concerned about the “unfolding tragedy in Gaza” including civilian deaths. “I am deeply troubled by the suffering being endured by the Palestinian population in Gaza, where many hundreds of innocent people have been killed, including women and children,” she said. “There have been a number of shocking incidents, including the indefensible shelling of three UN schools, all of which were sheltering civilians. Australia supports calls for a full investigation into these incidents. Both sides must respect international humanitarian law.” Bishop reaffirmed the government’s longstanding position that Israel had the right to defend itself from the attacks of Hamas and other militants, saying “no country should have to tolerate arbitrary and indiscriminate attacks upon its civilian population by rocket fire and infiltration through tunnels”. But she added that “in exercising its right to self-defence, Israel must take all necessary steps to prevent civilian casualties”. In the same statement, Bishop accused Hamas of showing “callous disregard for the welfare of the people of Gaza” through “its almost immediate violation of a humanitarian ceasefire negotiated for 1 August”. “The violence must stop as soon as possible. I welcome the announcement of a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire to commence later today. Israel and Hamas must fully commit to and implement this humanitarian pause. Then the priority must be to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement that brings an end to the killing and recrimination. All efforts must be directed at these objectives.” Tony Abbott last week reaffirmed the government’s call for a ceasefire and a two-state solution “based on a recognition of Israel’s right to exist behind secure borders”. On Thursday the prime minister said he did “not necessarily support every single thing that the Israeli government does” because it was “capable of making mistakes just like everyone else is”. “The problem in the Middle East is that in the end so many people are not prepared to accept Israel’s right to exist,” he told 3AW. Abbott was asked on Friday whether he condemned Israel’s shelling of schools. “I deplore the indiscriminate rain of missiles from Gaza onto Israel, I deplore any actions which result in civilian deaths and obviously we’ve seen far too much of that over the last few weeks,” he replied. The Labor opposition last week issued a statement saying that it was “appalled by the recent shelling of a UN school in a Gaza refugee camp and attacks on similar facilities” but it also deplored “the abuse of civilian facilities for military purposes, including a Gaza school that was used to hide rockets”. The statement – from the opposition leader, Bill Shorten and the foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek – called on Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel. Labor’s transport spokesman, Anthony Albanese, was more forthright in criticism of Israel, saying on Friday that the “collective punishment” being endured by the people of Gaza was “completely unacceptable”. The Australian government announced last week that it would provide an extra $5m in urgent humanitarian assistance to Gaza. |