The Labor MP Josh Wilson has broken ranks with the government, condemning Israel’s bombardment of Gaza as “unconscionable” and declaring that the besieged territory is “being bombed into rubble”.
The Australian government has repeatedly affirmed Israel’s right to self-defence following Hamas’s 7 October attacks, while saying it must act in line with international law.
Wilson, a backbench MP, said Israel’s rejection of a ceasefire proposal “means the unconscionable bombardment and suffering of the people of Gaza will continue”.
“That’s unacceptable,” Wilson told parliament on Thursday. “Every country has the right and obligation to defend its citizens but not every military action constitutes self-defence. The wholesale destruction of Gaza is not self-defence.”
Australian government ministers have expressed increasing alarm about the resulting humanitarian crisis in Gaza but have generally refrained from directly criticising Israel.
Wilson noted that Australia had “joined other nations in calling on all sides to deliver a ceasefire”, but then he gave a stark assessment of the situation.
“The truth is that Gaza is being bombed into rubble,” he said, citing widespread damage to buildings. He said the entire population was “being squeezed further and further south, in starvation conditions without basic medical services”.
As of 17 January, an estimated 50 to 62% of buildings in Gaza have likely been damaged or destroyed, and an even higher proportion of its homes, according to analysis of satellite data by US researchers.
The IDF has previously defended the extent of the damage in Gaza, saying Hamas “operates nearby, underneath, and within densely populated areas as a matter of routine operational practice”.
Wilson also condemned Hamas for its 7 October attacks and the taking of hostages.
He said it was “heartbreaking to learn this morning that the prospect of a ceasefire in the awful war in Gaza will not proceed at this time”, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of the terms of a potential deal proposed by Hamas.
Wilson said this “means more than 100 Israeli hostages remain in captivity”. He said it was “abhorrent that they were ever taken” and said these hostages “should have been freed unconditionally”.
Wilson said two-thirds of the deaths in Gaza were women and children, referring to figures from Gaza’s health ministry. “It is wrong, and it has to stop,” he said.
In a speech condemning Hamas’s attack in October, Wilson called for restraint and questioned whether children in Gaza might be “consigned to a life in a coastal strip that has been levelled to the ground”.
Netanyahu said on Wednesday there could be no solution to Israel’s security issues except “absolute victory” over Hamas.
He confirmed that Israeli forces had been instructed to commence operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the population has swelled by hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said she had spoken to the head of UNRWA, a key agency delivering aid to Gaza, about the ongoing investigations into its work.
“We spoke about ensuring that donors such as Australia can have the confidence to ensure that the pause is lifted, because this is important for the people of Gaza and the people of the Occupied Palestinian Territories more broadly,” Wong told reporters on Thursday.
Australia suspended $6m in top-up funding after claims raised by Israel that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the 7 October attacks.
