News- Middle East: Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong says “there is a risk there will be no Palestine left to recognize,” amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza and increasing violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Wong made her comments in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday morning, responding to questions about a mass protest in Sydney attended by hundreds of thousands of people rallying against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Protest organizers reported that between 200,000 and 300,000 demonstrators marched across Sydney Harbour Bridge during Sunday’s event, a figure significantly higher than the police’s initial estimate of approximately 90,000 participants.

Wong said the Australian government shared the protesters’ “desire for peace and a ceasefire,” and that the huge turnout reflected “the broad Australian community’s horror” and the “distress of Australians, on what we are seeing unfolding in Gaza, the catastrophic humanitarian situation, the deaths of women and children, the withholding of aid.”

At least 175 people, including 93 children, have starved to death in Gaza since the Israeli regime launched the war on Gaza in October 2023.

However, asked if Australia was considering taking any more concrete actions, such as imposing sanctions on Israel, Wong said: “We don’t speculate on sanctions for the obvious reason that they have more effect if they are not flagged.”

She said that Australia had already imposed sanctions on two far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in June this year, as well as “extremist” Israeli settlers.

On Australia’s position regarding Palestinian statehood, Wong said, “In relation to recognition, I’ve said for over a year now, it’s a matter of when, not if.”

The State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign nation by 147 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, representing 75 percent of the international community.

Wong’s interview coincided with reports that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is attempting to arrange a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Sunday’s large-scale demonstration.

When asked about his intended discussion points, Albanese said he would reiterate Australia’s backing for a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, independent journalist Antony Loewenstein told Al Jazeera at the march on Sunday that the rally showed Australians are “frustrated that our government is doing little more than talk at this point.”

Australia “is part of the global supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, which Israel is using over Gaza every day, and the parts that are amongst those parts in the plane are probably coming from Australia,” he said.

Several Western countries have continued to supply lethal weapons to the Israeli regime despite the enormous human toll caused by its genocide in the Palestinian territory. 

At least 60,034 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 148,870 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Source: Press TV