The Australian government “firmly believes” Lebanon should be included in a ceasefire deal struck between the United States, Israel, and Iran after Israel launched more than 100 airstrikes overnight, Anthony Albanese says.
Lebanon’s Civil Defence said at least 254 people were killed and 1165 wounded in the unprecedented wave of attacks which pummelled Lebanon, including the capital Beirut.
Israel has so far denied the deal would cover its land and air operations targeting alleged Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Speaking while en route to Singapore for talks on the fuel crisis, Mr Albanese said Wednesday’s ceasefire deal was “an important step forward”, albeit a “fragile peace”.
“The Australian government also firmly believes that this has to apply to Lebanon as well,” he said.
“We want to see peace in this region and it will make a difference.
“And I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon.
“This is a matter of not just the impact there, but the impact it is having right around the world.”
More than 1500 people have been killed since Hezbollah entered the war on the side of Iran following the United States’ and Israel’s surprise attack.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was earlier grilled on-air by Sunrise host Natalie Barr over Australia’s position on Iran’s 10-point plan to end the war with the United States.
The questions come following the Albanese Government’s enthusiastic endorsement of the joint US-Israeli operation to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, which has since become an all-out war and thrown the Middle East into chaos, severely disrupting global oil trade.
“Donald Trump says ‘we have received a plan from Iran that is workable’,” Ms Barr said, before rattling off a number of conditions which Iran says must be met by the US and its allies if they want the conflict to end.
“Several of those points (include)… Iran can have their nukes and they can enrich them … the UN nuclear watchdog stands down, the UN Security Council stands down, the US gets their troops out and all the damage from the war is paid for by all the ships going through the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.
“Do you think that is a workable plan?”
“I doubt that what Iran has put out is going to demonstrate what the final plan will be,” Senator Wong said.
“This is a negotiation that we are obviously not party to. All I can speak to is what we want. We want a ceasefire to hold, including in Lebanon, we want the Strait opened, and we want the world to work to restore stability to energy markets and fuel markets,” she said.
“We want Australians to not be punished at the bowser.”
Barr followed up by drawing attention to the dispute between the US and Iran over whether the Strait was actually open or not.
“Australians are waking up and they’ve got headlines like this (claiming) fuel relief is in sight… it doesn’t seem like it though, Penny,” she said.
“We’ve got Iran saying the Strait is closed, we’ve got the US saying ‘no, that’s fake news, the Strait is open. The two players can’t even agree on that this morning.”
The Foreign Minister said there was still “a long way to go” before any serious change is made.
“Not only is the ceasefire fragile, and it has to hold. Even if we see a successful negotiation we’ve still got a lot of disruption in the system,” Senator Wong said.
“We’ve got the gap in supply from the Strait being closed and then we have the damage to infrastructure in the region which is obviously affecting supply,” she said.
“It’s why the Government has been so focused on assuring supply… it’s why the PM is in Singapore, our largest supplier of petrol… I’ve been engaging with Singapore, with Malaysia, with Japan… the government is very focused on what we can do to ensure supply.”
The Coalition has been hesitant to support calls for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire, with defence spokesman James Paterson saying the opposition was “certainly … concerned about civilian deaths” but that Australia should trust the US over Iranian claims that Lebanon was covered in the terms.
“On the one hand, the United States and Israel say that the ceasefire did not include Lebanon, and on the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran is saying that it did include Lebanon,” Senator Paterson told ABC’s Radio National.
“I am personally reluctant to endorse claims made by a country which has sponsored terrorist attacks on Australian soil and which key hits key organ of the state, the IRGC, is listed as a terrorist organisation.”
Pressed further, he said the US “is our closest and most important military ally”.
“And they have publicly said that the ceasefire did not include Lebanon and against their claims are the claims of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which not only sponsored terrorist attacks against Australia, but has murdered tens of thousands of their own citizens in the last few months alone, has an illegal nuclear weapons program and sponsors other terrorist organisations around the world, including Hezbollah and Hamas,” he said.
“So if asked to take the side of either the United States or the Islamic Republic of Iran regime, it’s an easy choice for me.”
