Lawmaker urges Australian gov't to end arms deals with Israel

An Australian lawmaker on Monday called on the government to end arms deals with Israel.

“Countries around the world must step up and use every lever at our disposal to stop this horror,” said David Pocock, stressing that the scope of humanitarian devastation in Gaza “necessitates a stronger response,”

Emphasizing targeted sanctions against the members of the Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), he said: “We must also cut all military ties with Israel.”

Noting that the Australian army had awarded a contract worth $917 million to Elbit Systems to "work on new Infantry Fighting Vehicles being constructed in Victoria Australia to export ‘dual use’ items to Israel that can be used for military purposes,” Pocock said: “We still don’t know what these dual-use items are.”

“What we do know is that parts made in Australia are being used to kill kids,” he said.

Stressing that: “Weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin has said that every F-35 built contains some Australian parts and components,” Pocock noted that these aircraft were utilized by Israel to bombard Gaza: “This has to end.”

He added that if the government doesn’t do so, “future generations will look back and ask why we didn’t do more - and act more quickly - to stop the mass killing of civilians.”

Notably, public servants across the country last week in an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, demanded Canberra “immediately cease” all military exports to Israel.

Australia has witnessed widespread demonstrations across the country to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.

More than 36,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.