ACT Independent Senator David Pocock has supported the Australian Government’s call yesterday for a ceasefire in Gaza, as have the ACT Greens.

“This week we finally saw the Australian Government, together with Canada and New Zealand, take a stronger stand on the catastrophic loss of life we have seen in Gaza,” Senator Pocock said.

“These words need to be backed up with action.”

On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Australia voted in favour of the resolution.

153 members were in favour, 10 were against – including the United States and Israel – and 23 abstained.

Australia has historically abstained or voted in lockstep with the US on resolutions relating to Israel, but Wednesday’s vote represents a rare break.

Pro-Palestine rallies across the world have called for a ceasefire, including ones held in Canberra.

More than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces; many more have been pushed to starvation; and most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes as Israel’s bombing campaign stretches into its third month.

Hours before the UN debate, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had called for “a sustainable ceasefire”.

“We remain deeply concerned by the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ongoing risks,” they said.

“The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.”

However, the three prime ministers said a ceasefire “cannot be one-sided” and that Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms.

“There is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza,” they said.

The three leaders reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defence and prefaced their ceasefire calls with a condemnation of Hamas, whose October 7 invasion killed 1,200 Israelis, took more than 200 hostages, and sparked the latest upsurge in violence in a long history of conflict.

The Australian and Canadian governments consider Hamas a terrorist organisation, while New Zealand has designated the entity’s military wing a terrorist group.

But Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon said it was “difficult to understand” how Australia could support Israel’s right to self-defence while voting for a ceasefire that would “embolden Hamas” to resume attacks.

Australia’s UN representative James Larsen said the nation was “gravely concerned” about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“Human suffering is widespread and unacceptable,” he said. “This must not continue.”

However, Mr Larsen said the resolution should have gone further to unequivocally condemn Hamas as the perpetrator of the attack that precipitated the crisis.

A similar resolution proposed in October called for a humanitarian “truce”. 120 countries voted in favour, but Australia chose to abstain because it did not mention Hamas.

The prime ministers affirmed support for a two-state solution and Palestinians’ right to self-determination, specifically opposing “the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory, and any use of siege or blockade”.

The three leaders condemned rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab sentiment.

Senator Pocock

Senator Pocock said he fully supported “the wholehearted condemnation of Hamas’ atrocities and the urgent need to see all remaining hostages released”.

“But equally there must be a sustainable ceasefire that brings an end to the thousands of civilian deaths, the majority of which have been women and children.

“A ceasefire must be the first step on a path to establishing a lasting peace in the region. In the past, Australia has shown itself, together with its allies, to be a strong and respected voice on the international stage calling for peace.

“It is deeply concerning to read reports this morning that the majority of the 860 Palestinians who have been granted temporary visitor visas for Australia are still waiting for their names to be added to a list that enables them to leave Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

“Equally, Australian passport holders remain stranded in Gaza, not having made the list.

“I have been approached by Canberran families who have obtained visas for their family members to enter Australia, but are unable to get help to secure their passage across the border so they can travel here. 

“Australians and those granted Australian visas seem to be disproportionately poorly represented on the daily Rafah Crossing list.  

“I recognise the efforts of DFAT and the Australian government but also the deep distress of those here in Australia anxiously waiting for their friends and relatives to secure passage to safety.

“There is nowhere safe in Gaza now. Every additional day waiting to cross the border is another day they are at risk of death.

“I urge our government to redouble its efforts to see more Australian passport and visa holders able to cross the border and come to find safety in Australia.”

ACT Greens

Rebecca Vassarotti MLA said: “Finally. It’s about time.

“It shouldn’t have taken nearly 20,000 deaths and 67 days to finally vote for an immediate ceasefire at the UN.

“This is a step in the right direction, but a ceasefire must be permanent.

“The ACT Greens condemn the war crimes of Hamas and the invasion of Gaza for a long time. Nothing can justify the violence we have seen. 

“Instead of backing the invasion, Australia must be part of an international push for peace and de-escalation, which means an immediate ceasefire, an end to the invasion of Gaza and holding to account those who have committed war crimes.

“Ceasefire now. End the occupation.”

Wong and Birmingham

Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong welcomed the UN resolution as a “next step towards a sustainable ceasefire”.

“We think it’s important that very close allies and like-minded countries speak together in support of the position we’ve articulated,” she told reporters in Adelaide.

Senator Wong is expected to visit Israel and other Middle East countries in January. Meanwhile, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Senator Simon Birmingham leads a cross-party delegation to Israel.

“There is no point … in a premature situation that would enable Hamas to rearm, to regroup, and ultimately pose the threat of conducting the same type of terrorist atrocities as they did on the seventh of October,” he told Sky News.

Palestine Advocacy Network

Eight of Australia’s biggest humanitarian agencies welcomed the statement and resolution, as Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain urged the prime minister to “do all in his power to ensure this ceasefire happens, and that these issues aren’t forgotten once the fighting ends”.

Australia, Canada, and New Zealand must do this by campaigning for the US to vote for a ceasefire at the Security Council, where – unlike the General Assembly – the resolution would be legally binding, Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said.

APAN said the ceasefire was a step in the right direction – now it must be implemented in full and immediately.

Mr Mashni said the government’s shift in position was testament to the hundreds of thousands of Australians who marched, rallied and chanted demanding an immediate ceasefire. However, he said the community was distressed that it had taken 67 days of horrific Israeli military assaults, killing more than 18,000 Palestinians, for the Australian Government to join international calls for a ceasefire.  

“A ceasefire is the bare minimum the Australian Government must be calling for – the government must now strengthen its position further,” Mr Mashni said.

“We must also demand immediate international action to stop the Israeli Government’s genocide against Palestinians, to end its siege on Gaza, its military occupation of the West Bank, and its apartheid regime.

“We must see the Australian Government use every diplomatic tool at its disposal to press for the return of all Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli detention and all hostages, as well as calling for thorough International Criminal Court investigations of all war crimes committed in Palestine and Israel.”

Most immediately, Mr Mashni said the Australian Government had to use its unified position with New Zealand and Canada to build a strong international campaign for the US Government to vote for the next ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council and end its financial and military support of the Israeli Government’s genocide.

“Australia must put its weight behind the demands from governments across the Middle East and Latin America, as well as Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Malta and France to see the US and Israeli governments enact a ceasefire for Gaza,” he said.

“We saw the Australian Government take swift and strong action against Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, imposing sanctions on Russian government, military and media figures, and we must now see this in our national response not just to the Israeli Government’s violations of international law and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, but the US’s complicity with it.

“We must also end Australian complicity with the Israeli Government’s genocidal mission and apartheid regime against Palestinians by cutting all military ties immediately.”

Loud Jew Collective

The left-wing, anti-Zionist Loud Jew Collective called for a permanent ceasefire, but criticised the delay in the Australian Government’s shift in approach towards the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“It should never have taken this long,” a spokesperson said. “Yes, it is good to see the ALP shift its approach with the release of a statement (with New Zealand and Canada) and a changing vote at the UN General Assembly to call for a ceasefire but this is the bare minimum, and it is far too late. 

“And so we must keep fighting for what is actually needed: a permanent ceasefire, an end to the blockade of Gaza, freedom for all prisoners held, and an end to apartheid and violence across the West Bank and all of Palestine. 

“The genocide being perpetrated by Israel must end, and the West’s financial and military support of it must cease.”

With AAP