Australia will provide an additional $10 million in humanitarian aid to the people of Australia Gazabringing the total to $72.5 million.
The new funds will be sent to the World Food Program to pay for food aid to citizens at risk of famine.
“Australia continues to press for a ceasefire, for humanitarian assistance to reach Gazans in desperate need, and for the release of hostages,” the Foreign Secretary said. Penny Wong said.
“We support the ceasefire approved by the UN Security Council and want it to be fully implemented by both sides.
“Any delay will only lead to more lives.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong (pictured) has thrown the government’s support behind a ceasefire in Gaza, while pledging an additional $10 million in humanitarian aid to the area
The United Nations Security Council has backed a US-drafted resolution calling for a three-phase ceasefire as outlined by US President Joe Biden in May.
The resolution would call for a six-week ceasefire with an exchange of hostages held by Hamas as well as prisoners preserved by Israel.
The second phase would include a permanent ceasefire, while the third phase would include a reconstruction effort for the Gaza Strip.
The additional funding will help provide food assistance to civilians at risk of famine and will bring Australia’s aid bill for the region to more than $72 million since the start of the conflict.
The resolution calls on both Israel and Hamas to fully implement a ceasefire ‘without delay and without conditions’.
“The resolution reaffirms the international commitment to a two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders,” Senator Wong said on Tuesday.
“Australia will continue to work with peace-supporting countries to press for agreement on this proposal.
“Citizens must be protected, aid must flow widely and hostages must be released.”
More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel declared war on Hamas in October, local health officials say.
Israel’s military operation was accelerated by the October 7 attack, in which militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages.
