Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has strongly condemned Iran’s attack on Israel, saying every country involved needs to work towards a ceasefire.
Speaking on ABC Melbourne, Albanese said the government was concerned about the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
“It’s an escalation of the conflict that we keep seeing occurring. We condemn Iran’s actions in lobbing missiles into Israel. It’s fortunate that it would appear that the Iron Dome and the actions, as well, of the United States, have prevented any civilian casualties,” Albanese said.
Prime Minister Anthony AlbaneseCredit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Just under a week ago now, along with the United States, the UK, Canada, EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar, we signed a declaration calling for a de-escalation, calling for an immediate ceasefire so that Israelis could return to their homes in Northern Israel and Lebanese could return home to southern Lebanon.”
Asked if this attack by Iran is now a war, Albanese said he did not want to get into a debate on wording.
“I don’t want to go into a definitional argument. What you have is a tragedy. There was the terrorist actions, of course, almost a year ago now of Hamas on October 7 that were quite rightly condemned throughout the world,” he said.
“Then we’ve seen too many innocent civilians lose their lives, whether they be Israelis, Palestinians, or Lebanese. There does, at some point, need to be a diplomatic solution here.”
Source Agencies
