The Arab and broader Australian communities are deeply alarmed by the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians are facing mass displacement, destruction, and deliberate deprivation. Arab Council Australia joins the growing call for the Australian Government to unequivocally condemn the weaponisation of aid — a tactic that is starving an entire population in defiance of international law.
In Gaza, nearly half a million people are now facing famine. Children are dying of hunger — 24 in July alone — according to the World Health Organization. Seventy-four people have already died from malnutrition this year. Many arrive at clinics too late, their bodies visibly wasted, beyond help. This is not an unintended consequence of war. It is an intentional act of mass deprivation. 
Israel continues to severely restrict the flow of aid to a population already besieged and displaced, in open defiance of international law and a January 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
This famine is not just a crisis. It is a war crime.
The scale of devastation in Gaza is staggering — and it is the Palestinian people who are paying the price:
• More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the escalation in October 2023, and countless others unaccounted for.
• Nearly 2 million people — 90% of Gaza’s population — have been repeatedly displaced.
• Over 92% of all residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
• Of the 74 malnutrition-related deaths recorded in 2025, 63 occurred in July alone — including 24 children under the age of five.
Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian life, infrastructure, and culture in Gaza is not accidental — it is deliberate. Experts and human rights organisations, including Israeli groups such as B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have long described Israel’s actions as genocide.
Arab Council Australia acknowledges recent remarks by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who described the crisis as “beyond the world’s worst fears.”  But these words have been too long in coming and are not enough. As a member of the international community, it is time for Australia to act.
Arab Council Australia urgently calls for Australia to:
• Demand a permanent and immediate ceasefire and unequivocally condemn Israel’s manufactured starvation of Palestinians in Gaza
• Ensure the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza administered by a principled UN-led mechanism
• Demand an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza
Arab Council Australia calls on our leaders to embrace morality, humanity and basic decency.

Silence is complicity, and delay is death. We say without equivocation, enough is enough.