Key Points
- Federal MP Anne Aly will travel to Jordan to show Australia supports diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.
- She will attend an event known as International Call to Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza.
- Aly will be advocating for urgent humanitarian assistance to reach Palestinians in Gaza in desperate need.
Labor frontbencher Dr Anne Aly, an outspoken government critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, will join US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at crucial humanitarian talks in Jordan this week.
The Early Childhood Minister will represent Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the 11 June summit in Amman, organised by Jordan, Egypt and the United Nations.
“This conference is an opportunity for Australia to continue to use its respective voice to call for a ceasefire,” Aly told SBS World News in a wide-ranging interview before her departure.
Since, Aly has shared her concerns about the scope of Israel’s military operations in Gaza to remove Hamas.
She told SBS News the thousands of were “absolutely not” worth it.
“War has rules and war has standards that are agreed upon by the international community, and if Israel wants to call this a war, then they must abide by those rules,” she said.
“It is absolutely unacceptable, the number of civilian casualties that have been lost.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli troops will continue their actions in Gaza until Hamas was destroyed. Source: AAP
Israel has repeatedly defended its actions in Gaza as justified, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the Israel Defence Forces as “the most moral military in the world”.
The offices of Albanese government members, including the Prime Minister, have been targeted by Pro-Palestinian protesters in recent months.
In March, Aly was confronted by activists in her Perth electorate office in the seat of Cowan during a scheduled meet and greet with constituents, demanding she label Israel’s military actions a “genocide”.
Aly said she “sympathised and empathised” with Australians appalled by the humanitarian crisis, but labelled voters who felt the government was not doing enough were “at best, misguided by the misinformation”.
“I am a member of that government, who is of Arab background, who was born in the region, who was campaigning for Palestine as a teenager, even in Egypt,” she said.
“We are doing everything that we can to continue to call for a ceasefire. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches people in Gaza. And we are doing everything that we can to reach a solution for long-lasting peace which involves a two state solution.”
Last week, the prime minister and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton condemned pro-Palestinian protests outside electorate offices, blaming the Greens for escalating tensions.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt rejected those allegations, against Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus over comments not covered by parliamentary privilege.
The Albanese government says it has provided $62.5 million in humanitarian aid to the region – with $41 million directed to Gaza.
The 7 October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people in Israel, mostly civilians.
have killed 36,801 people, also mostly civilians.
