The cruelty shown towards the people of Gaza by the Israeli government knows no bounds as the IDF is ordered to forcefully occupy the city, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.
Senator Stephenson said:
“Israel is being allowed to act with impunity in its destruction of Gaza and its people – now, Benjamin Netanyahu has repurposed his brutality to achieve colonial ends, intending to take over the entire enclave.
“Total control of the region would reverse a 2005 agreement which saw Israeli soldiers withdraw from Gaza, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities.
“While we have one of the worst man-made famines starving an entire population, the Israeli Government wants to make it worse by occupying an area which has been under siege for months – the international community must impose sanctions on Israel and condemn this move.
“While Netanyahu plans his imperial war games, hundreds of innocent Palestinians are being killed and injured at aid distribution sites – for many months, Israel has had total control of how life-saving supplies are delivered and distributed to Gaza’s starving population.
“Families at these sites are desperate to keep their loved ones alive, yet they’re faced with bullets and unimaginable violence – there is no way to accurately put into words the horrors Gazans are faced with.
“Instead of allowing the normal UN aid system to operate, the Israeli Government set up a private and highly militarised organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which is under control by the Israeli Defence Forces, with support from private US contractors.
“This week, Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said that the sheer number of people being shot, killed and injured at aid sites amounts to the fact that,rather than being centres of humanitarian aid and support, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund aid distribution sites are actually places of “orchestrated killing”.
“Even worse, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund creates a fantasy of aid delivery – Israel can point to it and claim it’s allowing in aid, which makes an unsettling mockery of the entire aid system.
“The United Nations Security Council should act urgently to establish an international protection force to safeguard Palestinian civilians and ensure the unobstructed delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.”
August 8th, 2025