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A call for a global coalition to fight Hamas terrorists in Gaza has triggered Australian concerns about the risk of a \u201cspillover\u201d into wider conflict in the Middle East, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging humanitarian help instead.<\/p>\n
Albanese said his priority was to work with allies including the United States to help innocent civilians in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israeli civilians earlier this month, as the Israel Defence Force prepares to invade Gaza.<\/p>\n
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Resources Madeleine King during a press conference in Washington DC on Tuesday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n His comments came after French President Emmanuel Macron raised the idea of extending an international coalition that is fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and turning it against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza.<\/p>\n Macron made the remarks while standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem but gave no details of the way the coalition might work.<\/p>\n While Australia is a member of the international coalition against IS, Albanese responded with caution when asked about the French proposal at a press conference in front of the White House during his four-day visit to the US capital.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important, and certainly we agree with the United States, that it\u2019s important that we avoid spillover on this issue, which would be bad for Israel, bad for the region,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n Palestinian emergency services and local citizens search for victims in buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see the people of Gaza have access to water and essentials. It\u2019s really important that innocent civilians be provided with that support. And our priority as well is providing support for Australians who are wanting to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned of the risk to the region in comments last Thursday during a visit to the US.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen the Arab streets fill with rage all across the region. So the risk of a regional spillover is real,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n European Union leaders are later this week expected to endorse a call for a \u201chumanitarian pause\u201d in hostilities to let more water, food and medicine into Gaza and to give more time for negotiations mediated by Qatar to secure the release of hostages.<\/p>\n Macron said that countries fighting IS in Iraq and Syria \u201cshould also fight against Hamas\u201d and that France was ready to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fight against terror is a matter of existence for Israel, but it is a matter of existence for all of us,\u201d he said, adding that Israel\u2019s security \u201ccannot be sustainable without a decisive relaunch of the political process with the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed that Hamas \u201cdoes not carry the Palestinian cause\u201d and called it \u201ca terrorist group whose very objective is the destruction of the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamas \u201cmust be fought with force,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the Palestinian cause must be heard with reason.\u201d<\/p>\n The Biden administration responded to Macron\u2019s remarks by emphasising its bilateral support for Israel including the supply of military equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cOur focus right now is making sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and to go after Hamas, particularly leadership,\u201d said the US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, when asked about Macron\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have almost daily now provided security assistance to Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cSo our focus is really on helping Israel from a bilateral perspective, be able to beat back the terrorists, and then also, obviously, to work on the humanitarian situation, to get hostages home, of course, and take the necessary force protection measures we need for our troops in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirby, speaking to reporters in a briefing at the Australian embassy in Washington DC, said the US was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the danger of the conflict spreading to other countries in the region and added there was \u201cno question\u201d that Iran was supplying weapons to militias that were firing on US forces.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons why the President has added additional force posture in the region, to include two carrier strike groups, is to try to prevent that from happening,\u201d he said of the risk of conflict spreading.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged $10 million in aid to the people of Gaza on October 14, but the main corridor for supplies has been cut at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a key barrier also in Australian efforts to help 46 Australians who are seeking to flee the conflict.<\/p>\n Albanese said the government was talking to the Egyptian government to try to move the Australians to safety.<\/p>\n \u201cOur priority has been getting both people in Israel, but also people in Gaza, who want to leave, who are Australian citizens, out,\u201d he said in Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also continued to emphasise the importance of humanitarian support for people in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have engaged with Egypt as well, very directly, because Australian citizens need that protection.<\/p>\n \u201cI continue to emphasise that Australia\u2019s position is for the protection of innocent lives. We mourn as a nation every innocent life which has been lost in this conflict, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian. Every innocent life is valued. And there is a need to make sure that international law is respected and upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n Get a note directly from our foreign <\/i><\/b>correspondents <\/i><\/b>on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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