Israeli strikes in Rafah have had horrific, unacceptable consequences: Australia

In a broadside at Tel Aviv over its latest bombardment in Gaza, Australia has called on Israel to halt its operation in Rafah.

“Israel's strikes have had horrific and unacceptable consequences,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement, referring to the latest Israeli attacks in Rafah which killed 45 on Sunday.

These events “underscore that we must wee a humanitarian ceasefire now so that civilians can be protected,” she added.

At least 45 people were killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 250 others injured in the Israeli strike on the camp on Sunday.

The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, said the Gaza-based Government Media Office.

Calling on Hamas to release all hostages, Wong said the Palestinian resistance group must “stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields and lay down its arms.”

Wong, however, did not mention nor refer to any incident where Hamas had used human shields.

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

The latest attack came despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the Israel-Hamas war before it was invaded on May 6.