Anthony Albanese has described the deaths of hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital as “deeply distressing” as the Australian government urged all parties to avoid an escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The prime minister on Wednesday condemned “any indiscriminate attacks” on civilians, while the foreign minister, Penny Wong, warned a wider regional conflict would cause even more civilian deaths.
Wong appeared to be sending a message to the Netanyahu government when she said on Wednesday that a regional spillover would compound “risks to Israel’s security”.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people were killed on Tuesday night in what it said was an Israeli airstrike on al-Ahli al-Arabi, also known as the Baptist hospital. A spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence put the number of killed at about 300. Israel has denied responsibility for the blast.
On Wednesday Israel presented what it said was evidence that the explosion was caused by a misfiring rocket from inside Gaza launched by Islamic Jihad.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces said the rocket failed soon after launch from a nearby cemetery and had landed in the hospital car park.
Islamic Jihad denied the Israeli allegation. The incident sparked demonstrations across the Middle East on the eve of Joe Biden’s arrival in Israel.
The US president told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that based on evidence he had seen “it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you, but there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got to overcome a lot of things”.
Earlier, Albanese said the protection of civilian lives must “come first”.
“Every innocent life matters – whether it is Israeli or Palestinian,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday morning.
“Australia joins with others in calling for international law to always be upheld.”
The hospital was packed with people injured in previous Israeli strikes, as well as civilians seeking shelter, believing the hospital grounds to be safer than their homes after relentless Israeli attacks that have already killed more than 3,000 people.
Hamas, which sparked the latest war with attacks last week that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, called Tuesday’s hospital strike “a horrific massacre”.
The Australian government has repeatedly condemned Hamas over the 7 October attacks and the taking of hostages. While recognising Israel’s right to self-defence, Wong has also said “how Israel conducts this conflict matters”.
Wong called for “safe and unimpeded humanitarian access” to Gaza.
“Containing this conflict matters,” Wong told the Senate. “If conflict were to spill over across the region, risks to Israel’s security would be compounded, as they would for Israeli and Palestinian civilians and civilian populations throughout the region.
“Averting regional escalation matters to Israel. It matters to the people in the region and it matters to the world.”
The Greens senator Larissa Waters asked whether Wong would call on Israel to stop its imminent ground invasion of Gaza and whether the Australian government supported the blockade.
Wong did not directly answer the question, but called for “the protection of human life” and “restraint”.
The Greens later tried to secure the Senate’s support for an urgent motion to “oppose Israel’s invasion of Gaza”, but the push was voted down by the major parties.
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi accused Wong of engaging in “weasel words”.
In an impassioned speech, Faruqi asked: “Which landmarks are being lit up now when Gazan civilians are dying in their thousands including hundreds of children?
“Let me tell you, there is no flag or landmark large enough to cover the shame of your silence as innocent civilians are being killed.”
The Asio chief, Mike Burgess, told reporters in California on Tuesday that security officials anticipated “spontaneous violence” around protests and counterprotests, echoing language he used in a written statement last week.
In that statement, Burgess said it was “important to distinguish opportunistic violence from planned violence or acts of terrorism” and he also urged everyone to take care with their language to avoid inflaming community tensions.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, confirmed that the overall terrorism threat level in Australia remained at the level of “possible”.
“When we look at different groups in the community, for example our Jewish Australian brothers and sisters – even for them, the terror threat level remains ‘possible’,” O’Neil told Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday.
But O’Neil said security officials had stepped up their “vigilance and focus” because of “increased levels of anxiety and tension in the Australian community at the moment”.
O’Neil also said the government was “in contact with 46 Australians who are trapped in Gaza” and was “working furiously to do everything we can to get people out”.
The government announced 177 grants totalling $50m to improve security at religious schools and preschools, places of worship and faith-based community centres. The recipients include Jewish and Islamic facilities.
The funding comes after the parliament united to condemn all forms of hate speech, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Additional reporting by Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem
