Prime Minister says global patience with Israel is wearing thin amid worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, of being “in denial” about the suffering in Gaza, warning that the international community has reached a breaking point.
The comments came just a day after Albanese announced that Australia will formally recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations next month — a move he says is partly driven by frustration with Israel’s handling of the war and the mounting humanitarian toll.
Speaking to ABC News, Albanese recounted a phone call with Netanyahu last week, in which the Israeli Prime Minister repeated his longstanding position that intensified military action in Gaza could achieve different results. Albanese said such views ignore the dire reality for civilians, with more than 61,500 Palestinians killed since October 2023.
Australia will join France, Canada, and the United Kingdom in supporting Palestinian recognition at the September UN General Assembly meeting. Albanese described the decision as part of a “coordinated global effort” to revive the two-state solution, calling it “humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and bring an end to the conflict, suffering, and starvation in Gaza.”
Public sentiment in Australia has shifted sharply in recent months, with mass demonstrations — including tens of thousands marching across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge — demanding aid access to Gaza. Analysts say this change in mood has influenced Canberra’s decision, as humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate and Israel signals plans to take military control of Gaza City, threatening over a million lives.
“The risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment pass us by,” Albanese said, stressing that “a political solution, not a military one” is needed to halt the crisis.