The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for Australian humanitarian agencies welcomes the announcement from Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong to impose targeted Magnitsky-style financial sanctions and travel bans on seven Israeli individuals and an Israeli entity for involvement in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
This announcement comes in the light of advice from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week that Israel’s 57-year-old military occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful.
In line with the ICJ decision and the dire humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, ACFID calls on the Australian Government to immediately use all diplomatic tools available in its support for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation.
ACFID calls on all parties to the conflict to abide by the rulings of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice and ensure unhindered humanitarian access.
ACFID calls on the Australian government to consider the implications of Australians funding settler activities in the Palestinian Occupied Territories – now deemed illegal by the ICJ and assure the community that the Government is not inadvertently subsidising maintenance and expansion of illegal settlements including via tax deduction concessions to such activities.
