Australian governments talk a lot about our commitment to the rule of law and human rights. However Australia’s response – at glacial speed with grossly inadequate measures – to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks, are putting that commitment to the test. As a nation that has provided political and military support to Israel, we are not doing well.

The nightmare for the people of Gaza has long since become almost unbearable to watch. Under international humanitarian law, healthcare and other civilian infrastructure must be protected during warfare. Despite this, Gaza’s healthcare system has been virtually destroyed. Everything that healthcare and even life itself need have been either bombed or blocked. Surgeries, including on children, are performed without anaesthesia. Infectious illnesses are rising rapidly. A quarter of Gazans face starvation. The picture is one of mounting war crimes.

On 12 December, Australia finally supported a UN General Assembly resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after having failed to do so on 27 October.

However far more is needed from Australia – actions in addition to words are called for. Repeated statements into the ether that Israel must obey the law, when Israel’s leaders........

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