Media Centre

The Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a horrifying level of atrocity. Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map. Under the guise of “evacuation,” Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City. This is not an evacuation—this is forced displacement under gunfire. Since 1 October, no food has been allowed into the area, and civilians are being starved and bombed in their homes and their tents.

Aid agencies and medical professionals have joined forces to call urgently for a ceasefire to allow life-saving polio vaccinations to be administered to about 640,000 children aged under 10 following confirmation of the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years.

As the people of Gaza face relentless bombardment, death, and destruction on an unprecedented scale, Australian organisations including Plan International Australia, Oxfam Australia, Save the Children, ActionAid, Amnesty International, Muslim Aid Australia, APHEDA-UnionAid Abroad, Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network (APAN), the Australian Council for International Development, Australian Council for International Development and Trade Unionists for Palestine are supporting the global call for an end to the transfer of arms to Israel.

States cannot hide behind airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support the needs in Gaza: their primary responsibility is to prevent atrocity crimes from unfolding and apply effective political pressure to end the relentless bombardment and the restrictions which prevent the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.  

Four in five Australians are in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza (81%), and a majority (53%) support the Australian Government taking more action to achieve that goal, new polling has found.

The risk of famine is increasing each day in Gaza due to the continuation of hostilities, and the continued blockade of the Strip, with the entire population now living with crisis-level hunger, and one in four households — more than half a million people — facing catastrophic conditions. This is the highest proportion of any population in food security crisis and above on the IPC’s global records.

We, the undersigned organisations, call on all States to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.

Today we stand in solidarity with over 800 organisations and millions of people worldwide in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. With the United Nations voting in overwhelming support of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the Australian Government and other world leaders must work towards a de-escalation of violence now.