‘Deeply concerned’ Australia says Lebanon should be included in Middle East ceasefire | Australian foreign policy
Australia says Lebanon should be included in the Middle East ceasefire and has led a group of other countries to express deep concern over the “worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon”.
Overnight, Israel carried out its biggest attack on Lebanon since the start of its war with Hezbollah; At least 254 people died and 837 were injured. The attack led Iranian officials to warn that Tehran may withdraw from a ceasefire reached with the United States this week.
Inside declarationAnnounced earlier on Thursday, foreign minister Penny Wong, along with counterparts from Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom, said: “Attacks that threaten the safety and security of humanitarian personnel must be stopped. International humanitarian law must be supported in all circumstances by all parties to the conflict.”
“We condemn in the strongest terms the actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon.”
The Israeli prime minister’s office said the two-week ceasefire agreement did not include Lebanon, contrary to a statement by mediator Pakistan, while Trump, after initially remaining silent, said Lebanon was a “separate conflict” and not part of the agreement.
Speaking to the ABC’s RN Breakfast on Thursday about the new joint statement, Wong said Australia was “calling for the ceasefire to be applied to Lebanon and for both Hezbollah and Israel to abide by the ceasefire”.
If clashes continue in Lebanon, “the entire ceasefire in the region would be at risk,” he said.
“That’s what we called for last night. Overnight, the G7 and other countries were saying the same thing, and we continue to claim that.”
Asked whether he had been in contact with his Israeli counterpart or whether the ambassador here had offered this perspective from Australia, Wong replied: “Not in the last 12 hours, but I have made it public and there is a very pragmatic reason for it…
“We want the ceasefire to last. We know it’s fragile. We know what it means for the world, and we know what it means for the Australians on the oil tanker.”
Shadow Defense Secretary James Paterson said the Coalition was concerned about reports of mass civilian casualties in Lebanon but said:
He stood by the US and Israel’s stance that Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire agreement.
“The US is our closest and most important military ally and they have made it clear that the ceasefire does not extend to Lebanon,” he told RN Breakfast.
“Contrary to their claims are those of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has not only sponsored terrorist attacks on Australia, but has massacred tens of thousands of its own citizens in the last few months alone, has an illegal nuclear weapons program, and sponsors other terrorist organizations around the world, including Hezbollah and Hamas.
“So if I am asked to side with the United States or the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is an easy choice for me.”
