This comes a day after Australia announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state for the first time during a UN General Assembly vote scheduled for next month. This move aligns with a growing international push led by France, Britain, and Canada to pressure Israel.
Albanese asserted that the Netanyahu government's reluctance to respond to the positions of its international allies contributed to Australia's anticipated decision. Speaking about a call he had with Netanyahu last Thursday, he said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): "He reiterated to me what he has said publicly before, which is to deny the grave humanitarian consequences that innocent people are suffering."
The Australian decision requires commitments from the Palestinian Authority, most notably ensuring that Hamas will not play any role in a future Palestinian state.
The announcement drew criticism from right-wing opposition leader Susan Lee, who viewed the move as a departure from the consensus policy between Australia's two main parties on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She warned that it could harm the country's relations with the United States, which refuses to recognize a Palestinian state outside the framework of the peace process.
Albanese had previously announced that he would not set a timetable for recognition, out of concern for dividing Australian public opinion, especially given the country's large Jewish and Muslim minorities.
However, the public mood underwent a major shift following Israel's announcement of its intention to impose military control over Gaza, and repeated reports of deteriorating humanitarian conditions there, including widespread hunger and malnutrition.
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This month, Sydney witnessed mass demonstrations, with tens of thousands of people demanding the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, amid growing public sympathy for Palestinian civilians.
In contrast, neighboring New Zealand announced that it is still considering recognizing a Palestinian state, a position that drew criticism from former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who today expressed her disapproval of New Zealand's hesitation on the matter.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The Israeli genocide left 61,430 Palestinian martyrs and 153,213 wounded, most of them children and women. More than 9,000 people were missing, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine killed 222 people, including 101 children.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
