Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hind Rajab was six years old when she had to make an unimaginable call for help. She was trapped in a car with her dead relatives in Gaza city. 'I'm so scared,' she said on the phone. 'Please come.' The Red Crescent Society stayed on the phone with her for three hours as they implored Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to rescue her. An ambulance raced to rescue Hind, but, when the paramedics arrived, they reported being targeted with laser lights from Israeli forces. Then there was gunfire, then silence. Twelve days later, Hind and the paramedics who'd tried to save her were found dead. How can this go on?

If you were to attend a funeral every day for every child that has been killed in Gaza since the Israeli government's invasion, it would take you over 33 years—33 years. With Israeli forces now beginning a ground invasion of Rafah—where over 1.4 million people have sought refuge because that's exactly where Israel's military told them they'd be safe—the deadliest days may still be yet to come.

There is no excuse that Labor can make for not doing everything in their power to pressure Israel's government to stop. Labor must stop supporting the invasion and sanction Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to help stop genocide. Labor must stop Australia's military exports to Israel. And, for the sake of basic humanity, Labor must restore the UNRWA funding that they suspended, to give the people in Gaza a chance.