No Palestine 'left to recognise' without two-state solution pathway, Australian FM warns
FM Penny Wong reiterated previous comments from Treasurer Jim Chalmers that it is a matter of "when, not if" Australia will move to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that there is a risk that there will be no Palestine "left to recognise" unless the international community creates a pathway to a two-state solution.
Speaking on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio, Wong reiterated previous comments from Treasurer Jim Chalmers that it is a matter of "when, not if" Australia will move to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
More To Read
- Explainer: What is the threshold for famine and how hunger is tracked
- Aid workers accuse NGOs of 'whitewashing' Israel's Gaza war
- UN declares famine in Gaza as over half a million people face starvation
- Hunger in Gaza: Women and children face death in search of food
- Classified Israeli intelligence data shows 83 per cent of Gaza war dead were civilians
- ‘There’s no such thing as someone else’s children’ – Omar El Akkad bears witness to Gaza destruction, West’s quiet assent
"There is a risk that there will be no Palestine left to recognise if the international community don't move to create that pathway to a two-state solution," she said.
Wong said that a major pro-Palestine protest across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday reflected that Australians are feeling "horrified" by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and reiterated the federal government's criticism of Israel withholding aid.
Her comments came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that he held a phone call with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, overnight.
According to the ABC, it was the first time the pair had formally spoken since November 2023.
The PM's office said Albanese reaffirmed Australia's commitment to a two-state solution.
Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Matt Thistlethwaite, said on Monday that Albanese has requested a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Top Stories Today
