Names of 17,000 Palestinian children killed by Israel honoured by prominent Australians in 24-hour vigil on Parliament Lawns
Over the past 24 hours, ActionAid joined Members of Parliament, doctors, journalists, academics, actors, writers, and community members at Parliament House in Canberra to read the names of over 17,000 Palestinian children killed in Israel’s 22-month-long assault on Gaza.
Israel’s brutal campaign has claimed over 58,000 lives to date, with tens of thousands more wounded or missing under rubble.
Michelle Higelin, ActionAid Australia Executive Director, travelled to Canberra along with ActionAid Australia staff and volunteers. “It is indefensible that the Israeli military continues to starve, maim and kill innocent children on a daily basis,” she says.
“These children had dreams and hopes for the future and today we honour the lives of the 17,000 Palestinian children who have been killed in this conflict. We call on the Australian government to take urgent action with governments globally to bring an end to these atrocities in Gaza and hold Israel to account for continued violations of international law.”
We welcome the strong statement signed overnight by the Foreign Minister on Australia’s behalf, calling for an immediate end to the war on Gaza and for the full flow of aid. But without urgent and concrete action, these words ring hollow. The Australian Government must now take concrete action to pressure Israel to end the illegal siege, uphold the rights of civilians, and demand accountability after months of injustice faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
The 24 hour vigil coincided with Federal Parliament’s first sitting week and is jointly hosted by seven leading Australian civil society organisations, ActionAid Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Caritas Australia, ChildFund Australia, MAA International, Oxfam Australia, Plan International Australia, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières, to demand immediate and concrete action from the Australian Government to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The vigil will was a time for mourning and commemoration. The Voices For Gaza group also made the following demands on the Australian government:
- Apply pressure on Israel for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing killing of civilians;
- Use its power in international forums to demand Israel abide international law and to support international accountability mechanisms, including those of the International Court of Justice;
- Immediately suspend the export of weapons parts, munitions and military support to Israel, directly and via intermediate countries, to ensure Australia is not complicit in crimes committed in the illegally occupied Palestinian Territory;
- Apply full diplomatic pressure to restore safe, unimpeded, and sustained access for humanitarian relief in Gaza, led by United Nations aid delivery mechanisms and grounded in international humanitarian law;
- Advocate for a political solution that ends Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation, lifts the blockade on Gaza and upholds the Palestinian right to self-determination.