The Australian government has maintained its stance of not equating Israel with Hamas, while refraining from commenting on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) proposed arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On May 20, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced his office’s request to charge leaders from both Israel and Hamas with war crimes and human rights violations.
Khan’s statement received criticism from U.S.
President Joe Biden and the U.S.
government, who asserted that the ICC had no jurisdiction over Israel and Hamas.
Both the United States and the UK governments also stated there was no moral equivalence between the two sides amid the ongoing conflict.
While its allies and strategic partners criticized the ICC prosecutor’s move, the Australian government chose not to take a position on the issue.
Instead, Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasized his government’s focus on opposing Hamas’ terrorist actions while calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesperson told The Epoch Times that it is not appropriate for the government to comment on matters before the court.
However, DFAT clarified the Australian government’s view on the equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is a terrorist organization,” the spokesperson said.
The Australian government has consistently condemned Hamas’ terrorist actions and called for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.
DFAT also stated that any country under attack by Hamas has the right to defend itself, with Israel required to adhere to international humanitarian law in doing so.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers echoed DFAT’s statement, emphasizing the need for a cessation of violence against innocent people in Gaza as a top priority.
Leader of the opposition in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, also aligned with the government in rejecting any notion of equivalence between Hamas and Israel.
However, he criticized the ICC’s chief prosecutor for seeking the arrest of representatives from a democratically elected government alongside leaders of a terrorist organization.
The ICC’s clear responsibility is to complement a nation’s own legal system, not to supplant it,” Birmingham said.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison went further, asserting that the ICC had “surrendered its legitimacy” by creating a moral equivalence between a terrorist organization and a nation engaged in military actions for self-defense.