Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong is facing criticism after she raised the prospect of Australia recognizing a Palestinian state.
Wong said in a speech late Tuesday that recognizing Palestinian statehood could be the only way to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East and build momentum toward a two-state solution amid ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israel. She said Wednesday she wasn’t changing Australia’s position, but was starting a conversation.
“We’ve made no such decision. The discussion I want to have is to look at what is happening in the international community where there is the very important debate about how it is we secure long-lasting peace in a region which has known so much conflict,” Wong told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Wong said Hamas must free hostages and that the armed group would have no place in a Palestinian state. She also said there needed to be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that aid could be delivered to Gaza. And she urged Israel not to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah because of the risk to civilians.
Both Australia’s center-left Labor Party government and the conservative opposition parties support a two-party solution in the Middle East.
But opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs Simon Birmingham called it “downright dangerous to reward (Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel) with a fast track to recognition of statehood."
