Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler responded to Cabinet Minister Tony Burke’s statements about Israel, saying, “While we share Tony Burke’s concern for the welfare of innocent Gazans, his comments on Radio National this morning were appalling. They were a complete inversion of both morals and the laws of armed conflict.”
Mr Leibler continued, “Mr Burke said that Palestinian families would run out of food and water before Hamas fighters did, but blamed Israel for this outcome. Hamas is the de facto power in Gaza and is solely responsibility for not just for the distribution of essential supplies to all Gazans, but also for the state of war Gaza now finds itself in. If Hamas has supplies of fuel, food and water, which Mr Burke recognised in his comments, why didn’t he call on Hamas to provide them to its own people? There is a reservoir of half a million litres of diesel in Gaza under Hamas control. Hamas does not provide this to hospitals for power generation. This is not Israel’s fault.”
Mr Leibler continued, “The Australian Government fully backs Israel’s right to remove Hamas from power. Hamas’s tactics and policies deliberately endanger civilians. Israel is doing its best to limit the impact on civilians, including by telling them to leave warzones and by facilitating humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Hamas is responsible for the Gazan tragedy, and Mr Burke should be blaming it, not Israel.”
