25/09/2024 – Sydney

NIF Australia is deeply concerned at the continued exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, and urges restraint from both sides to avoid further death and destruction.

Since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on 8 October, life has been incredibly challenging for residents in Israel’s north who were forced to evacuate and are still living in temporary accommodation. 

Israel has the right to defend itself from continued rocket fire and the international community must condemn such attacks as have prior United Nations Security Council resolutions. 

Yet, as this war continues, innocent civilian lives are being lost. Since Israel’s bombing of Lebanon began on Monday, at least 50 children have been killed. The violence in the region has already claimed too many lives and these ongoing exchanges will only incur further bloodshed. 

As seen over the past year, hostages have been returned en masse only as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. So too in this latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, diplomacy to forge a political solution is the best path to safety and security for all. 

The international community must work to bring pressure on the Israeli government and on Hezbollah to come to a ceasefire agreement. The bloodshed must end.

NIF welcomes the Australian government’s efforts to protect aid workers internationally and to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza. But more must be done to ensure that no further civilian lives are lost. 

We call on all parties to the conflict in the region to exercise maximum restraint to bring about a ceasefire and hostage deal that saves lives. As Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green, the co-directors of NIF grantee, Standing Together, said earlier this week: 

‘The way to ensure security along Israel's northern border passes through a cooling off of the southern border. A hostage deal – which will bring the hostages back home, stop the war and the mass killing of innocent people in the Gaza Strip – will help create the conditions that will stop the shelling of northern communities and allow the evacuees to return.’ 

Media contact:

Michael Chaitow (NIF), 0432 629 342