David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Nationals, I stand here united with the government on their important motion. Nine days ago Hamas terrorists unleashed a savage, barbaric, murderous assault on Israel. It was an assault that targeted civilians. It was an assault that has left a scene of unimaginable horror and devastation. It was an assault on the world's only Jewish nation. It was an assault which, in all its twisted and evil depravity, was designed to scar and to traumatise. The scenes were sickening—hundreds of young revellers gunned down in a hailstorm of bullets at a music concert; Israeli children and babies slaughtered, some decapitated, in their beds and cots; grandmothers murdered in their gardens; entire families massacred. It was an attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead, murdered in cold blood by a terrorist movement that is renowned for its violent extremism and poisonous and anti-Semitic ideology. Compounding this sheer horror was the sight of more than 150 civilians who were taken hostage, kidnapped and taken into the Gaza Strip. Through its repugnant beliefs and appalling violence, Hamas presents an existential threat to the state of Israel. Their attack on Israel was a deliberate provocation.

The nightmare unfolded in the early morning of last Saturday as Israelis were wrapping up the seven-day-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. Under the cover of a barrage of more than 2,200 rockets fired indiscriminately at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, hundreds of Hamas terrorists rampaged into southern Israel. They marched into communities and into kibbutz after kibbutz, opening fire on homes and killing women, children, the elderly and any Israeli they came across. Innocent people were slaughtered in the most atrocious of circumstances imaginable. At the Nova music festival, 260 young people were shot as they fled for their lives. At the Be'eri kibbutz, a small Jewish community, more than 100 residents were killed in their homes, including scores of children. Tragically, it was here that we also lost 66-year-old Gilat Carbone, an Australian grandmother. So the federal National Party condemns in the strongest possible terms this abhorrent terrorist attack by Hamas. Our party stands in unity and in solidarity with the nation of Israel and its people. We always have and we always will.

We must be clear: Israel has every right to defend itself against the appalling threats presented by an ISIS-like organisation like Hamas, which has no regard at all for human life. We know that the recovery and healing process will be long and traumatic for the families who have lost loved ones and the Jewish communities that were destroyed. Shamefully, this atrocity was the biggest mass murder of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. Savagery of this magnitude must be confronted. As political leaders, all of us in this place must stand on the side of humanity over evil. The National Party is proud to stand with Israel in their battle against terrorism, and once again we extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to our close friend and ally and its people during this difficult time.

I commend the motion to the House.

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