This brings Australia's total aid pledged since the outbreak of the war in October 2023 to more than $130 million, including support for civilians in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the move came after Israel announced the opening of new humanitarian corridors, as conditions in the Gaza Strip continue to deteriorate.
According to United Nations estimates, the Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine, amid tight restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of aid. Israel controls all access points to the coastal enclave and allows only limited quantities of aid into the Strip.
These demonstrations come as part of a wave of widespread protests across the world in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and in rejection of the ongoing Israeli military operations.
Inside Israel, approximately 2,400 artists and engineers signed two petitions demanding an immediate halt to what they described as "starvation, displacement attempts, and war crimes" committed by the occupation army in Gaza.
According to the Hebrew website Walla, the signatories include approximately 1,000 prominent artists in the fields of music, theater, literature, and cinema. They called for an immediate end to the war, emphasizing their refusal to participate, even indirectly, in what they described as the "killing of civilians and the destruction of cities."
The second petition, signed by approximately 1,400 artists and architects, described what is happening in Gaza as "horror on an historic scale," warned of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, and emphasized Israeli society's responsibility for what is happening just a few kilometers away.
In Rabat, dozens of Moroccan human rights activists staged a hunger strike on Saturday to protest what they described as "Israeli starvation" imposed on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Other civil society groups are expected to organize strikes, sit-ins, and demonstrations in the coming days, in response to recent calls.
Today, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from Israel's starvation policy since October 7, 2023, has risen to 169 Palestinians, including 93 children.
Gaza is experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with a severe famine intertwined with a genocidal war waged by Israel, with US support, since October 7, 2023.
The genocide left more than 208,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
