Australia and New Zealand warn that Israel's full control of Gaza City may violate international law; Israeli far-right urges tougher stance against Hamas
According to Bloomberg, Australian Prime Minister Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon said in a joint statement on Saturday, 9th: "We urge the Israeli government to reconsider before it is too late. Any proposal that forces the Palestinian population to be permanently displaced must be abandoned."
This Friday, August 8th, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved an operation to "defeat Hamas" to fully control Gaza City, which could lead to the displacement of 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza City, causing strong global opposition.
Albanese and Luxon stated in a statement during their meeting in Queenstown, New Zealand: "Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including controlling Gaza City, is wrong, could violate international law, and would exacerbate the already existing humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip."
On the same Friday, German Chancellor Scholz announced that the country would stop supplying military equipment to Israel that could be used in operations in the Gaza Strip, including tank parts and other defense-related supplies.
On Saturday, August 9th, the foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, and the UK issued a joint statement calling on Israel to abandon its planned operation in Gaza City. The foreign ministers of these countries said: "This will worsen the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of hostages, and further lead to large-scale displacement of civilians."
According to AFP, Israeli right-wing Finance Minister Smotrich posted a video online on Saturday criticizing Netanyahu's decision on the Gaza issue as not firm enough.
"The Prime Minister and the cabinet have yielded to weakness. Emotion has overcome reason, and they have once again chosen the same old tactics - launching a military operation aimed not at achieving a decisive victory, but at exerting limited pressure on Hamas to achieve partial hostage agreements," he said.
"They have decided to repeat the same old tactics, launching a military operation that does not aim for a final solution," he added.
Similarly, National Security Minister Givati, also from the far right, said in an interview with a radio station on Sunday: "Achieving victory is possible. I hope to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, realize transfer and colonization. This plan will not jeopardize the safety of the army."
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