The federal government is continuing to support 67 Australians trapped in war-torn Gaza and find a pathway for them to leave, as Israel continues its retaliatory strikes after Hamas militants killed more than 1000 of its citizens.
Late last week, 25 Australians, permanent residents and their family members fled from Gaza into Egypt after being allowed through the Rafah crossing.
Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts says there hasn’t been any further crossings for Australians at the border point since then.
“But we think the diplomatic efforts of Qatar, of Eygpt, or the United States in seeking to broker that crossing is something that Australian consular officials, Australian diplomats and Australian foreign ministry officials work very hard at, to try and press for further passage for Australians across that border crossing,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Asked if there was any prospect of further evacuations in the next 24 hours, Mr Watts said it was a rapidly changing situation.
“We are pressing very hard because we know how dire the situation is in Gaza,” he added.
“It really is a very serious humanitarian situation there … that’s also why we’ve been calling for a humanitarian pause to enable that desperately needed humanitarian support to get to the people that need it, safely.”
Hundreds of international citizens have been able to cross into Egypt under a deal brokered between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar since last week.
The 25 Australians who got out were met by consular officials who organised accommodation and are working on providing them with free commercial flights home.
The Gaza border authority releases a daily list of approved foreign nationals who can leave the besieged strip but Australians have only appeared in the first iteration, and there were none in the list published on Saturday Australian time.
The first list included 34 Australians, permanent residents and their families.
Israel’s ground forces have encircled Gaza City after stepping up a bombing campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas after the terrorist group, which runs Gaza, killed 1400 people and took more than 240 hostages in an October 7 assault in southern Israel.
Gaza health officials said on Saturday that 9488 Palestinians have been killed so far in the Israeli operation.
Israel last month ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City where it says Hamas militants are hiding in tunnels, and head to the south of the enclave.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestine rallies will be held in Melbourne and Brisbane on Sunday.
From midday in Melbourne, supporters are expected to rally at Victory Park, Castlemaine, and outside the State Library of Victoria.
The Brisbane rally is due to begin at 6pm in Queens Gardens in the CBD.
Source: AAP
