Last month the foreign minister, Penny Wong, called Israeli soldiers’ actions in relation to the Gaza humanitarian flotilla “shocking and unacceptable” and on Thursday she said that the treatment of Australian women on the flotilla was “unacceptable”. Former minister Ed Husic said that there are many actions the Australian government should take to address Israel’s continuing crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. I agree with them both.
I have spent the past five years collecting and analysing evidence of grave violations of international law in Gaza and the West Bank. Since October 2023, much of my work has focused on Gaza, where the scale of civilian suffering, destruction, displacement and deprivation has raised profound legal and moral concerns. Our UN commission of inquiry has concluded that Israel’s conduct in Gaza constitutes war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide under international law.
While attention has been drawn away by the Israeli-American war against Iran, this conduct is continuing. The death toll in Gaza continues to rise. Identified direct victims of the violence now number almost 73,000. Estimates of indirect deaths go into the hundreds of thousands. The strip is in ruins. Humanitarian access is still gravely restricted, while displacement, deprivation and insecurity continue on a massive scale, including severe malnutrition among infants and young children. Last October Israel controlled 53% of the Gaza Strip; now it controls 60% and the Israeli prime minister said last week that it intends to control 70%.
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Nor is the crisis confined to Gaza. Violence and dispossession in the West Bank have intensified, accompanied by increasing settler attacks and deepening restrictions on Palestinian life. There is more and more evidence of torture, mistreatment and sexual violence in Israeli detention.
International law, as interpreted and applied by the international court of justice, imposes obligations on all states, including Australia, to act individually and collectively in response to these atrocities. Australia may be far away and its influence limited but its international law obligations are not reduced by distance or political limitations. There are steps the Australian government can and should take. I have proposed 20 of them in a series of lectures I have been presenting with Professors Emily Crawford and Ben Saul around Australia, organised by the Association for the Promotion of International Law and Amnesty International Australia:
The first action should be a wide ranging review to identify the many ways in which Australia’s relations with Israel support Israel committing international crimes.
Trade and diplomatic measures include ceasing all defence-related trade with Israel, including dual-use products, components, materials and technology, and ending trade and cooperative ventures with companies developing military items for use by Israel. Australia should also withdraw Australian defence and trade officials from our Tel Aviv embassy and impose secondary sanctions on states conducting defence-related trade with Israel.
Accountability measures comprise Australia affirming its commitment to enforce international criminal court arrest warrants for Israeli political and military leaders, along with imposing personal sanctions against these leaders and Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank.
Legal enforcement actions include investigating and prosecuting Australian citizens who have served in the Israel Defense Forces since October 2023 for potential war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, while prohibiting Australian citizens from fighting in foreign armed forces. The full force of Australian law should be applied to Australians who commit international crimes, as prime minister Anthony Albanese has said.
Settlement-focused measures would prohibit financial transactions with illegal Israeli settlements and end tax deductibility for Australian charities providing funding to organisations supporting illegal settlements.
Additionally, Australia should provide at least 15,000 humanitarian places for Palestinian refugees from Gaza and restore scholarship eligibility for Palestinians to undertake tertiary studies in Australia.
This is not a wishlist. It is the simple implementation of legal obligations. Australia wants to be a good international citizen. This is how it can be that.
Chris Sidoti is a member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. He will present his full 20-point plan on 11 June
