Key Points
- Australia will provide an additional $11 million in aid for Gaza.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong says humanitarian aid must be sustained in the region.
- A further $15 million will go towards vulnerable women in Myanmar and Afghanistan.
Australia is providing an extra $11 million in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza undergoing Israeli bombardment following the collapse of a ceasefire.
The funding will address urgent needs, including health care, food and water supplies severely impacted after Israel's renewed strikes on the blockaded strip, where more than two million people are trapped.
Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, including at least 15,000 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The retaliatory aerial and ground assault on the territory was prompted after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in a cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.
"Australia is engaging diplomatically as part of the international call for all parties to return to the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday.
"We continue to press for the protection of civilians, the release of hostages and unimpeded and sustained humanitarian aid."
Australia has committed almost $125 million in aid since October 2023 to support civilians impacted by Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
Mining magnate and philanthropist Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest, who founded the Minderoo Foundation, called for crucially needed aid to get through the territory and the protection of humanitarian workers.
Australia is making diplomatic efforts to urge a return to ceasefire in Gaza, Penny Wong says. Source: AAP / Habboub Ramez / ABACA / PA / Alamy
"We profess our heartache and utter dismay at the pain and suffering currently being endured by the people of Gaza — nearly half of whom are children — since the ceasefire was broken."
A further $15 million is also being diverted to humanitarian crises in Myanmar and Afghanistan, particularly toward vulnerable women.
Some one million Rohingya refugees, an ethnic Muslim minority targeted by the Myanmar military junta and militias who have fled across the border to Bangladesh, will receive $7 million in food assistance.
This will be augmented by $3 million more for those displaced at the Thai-Myanmar border.
In Afghanistan, retaken by the hardline Taliban almost four years ago, $5 million will be provided to enable United Nations partners to deliver services for women and girls.
These include addressing critical sexual and reproductive health needs, gender-based violence and displacement.
"Australia is steadfast in its support for Afghan women and girls, who have shown incredible courage in the face of the Taliban's systematic human rights violations and abuses," Wong noted.
"Helping others in crisis reflects Australian values but also supports our interests in a peaceful, stable world. "Australia's contribution will provide life-saving assistance to people enduring immense suffering."
