The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has flagged that Australia recognising a Palestinian state could rest on it being “demilitarised”.
Albanese on Sunday dodged questions regarding when Australia could resume funding to the United Nations agency delivering aid in Gaza, while stating the international community should focus on what happens after the war in the Middle East.
“The idea you can have security with the tension in the region, we need to de-escalate,” the prime minister told the ABC’s Insiders program.
“Part of that might mean, for example, any existence of a Palestinian state would be one which was a demilitarised state as well. Those are the sort of issues that need to be on the table.”
A spokesperson for the general delegation of Palestine to Australia said on Sunday it was “open to any proposal” guaranteeing an independent Palestinian state.
“It is encouraging that the US, UK and EU and Australia are now considering the recognition of the state of Palestine,” the spokesperson said when asked about Albanese’s comments.
“The features and characteristics of the Palestinian state should be consulted with the Palestinian people and according to the international law and UN resolutions.
“We are open to any proposal which will guarantee our self-determination in [a] sovereign and independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to solve all final status issues including a just and acceptable solution to the Palestinian refugees according to the UN resolution 194.”
Earlier on Sunday, Australia again supported US and UK-led strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
A joint statement distributed by the Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, alongside Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and the US, said the countries had “conducted an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes against 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen”.
The ongoing strikes were in response to Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.
The US also launched more than 85 strikes in Iraq and Syria against targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Albanese said Australia backed the US actions but shrugged off claims from the former president Donald Trump that the globe was on the brink of a new world war.
“I don’t think that’s right. I think that the United States has played a responsible role in the region. You can’t have the sort of attacks that we’ve seen and see no response, whether it be the actions of the Houthis in targeting our trade, whether it be the attacks that occurred on Americans in Jordan,” Albanese said.
“We want to see the area settled down. We’re working with our allies to play a role there.”
Asked about the war in Gaza, Albanese reiterated Australia’s support for a political solution.
“It is important we look to, arising out of this crisis, what is the long-term solution … the international community has had support for a long period of time that the two-state solution to be advanced,” he told ABC TV.
The prime minister went on to say that a demilitarised Palestine should be “on the table”.
“Israel has an interest in security. Quite clearly, if you talk about the distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, for people who have travelled to the region, it is like the difference from where we are and Queanbeyan,” Albanese said.
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“The United States, I know, is looking at these issues, as is the United Kingdom.”
The idea of a demilitarised Palestine has been raised publicly by the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The US president, Joe Biden, last month said different models of a two-state solution were available and he alluded to the possibility of a demilitarised Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s recent comments demanding that Gaza “must be demilitarised, under Israel’s full security control”, and that he would “not compromise on full Israeli security control of all territory west of the Jordan River”, were last month criticised by Australia’s assistant foreign minister, Tim Watts.
Watts said “there can’t be any permanent Israeli presence within Gaza”.
Albanese on Sunday also stopped short of saying what conditions Australia would need to be met before it resumed funding the UNRWA, the agency delivering aid in Gaza.
Funds were stopped last weekend after the Israeli government provided the agency with information alleging as many as 12 staff members were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.
Albanese has said the government was keen to resume funding but on Sunday said it was still “examining” the issues.
“The issue here is one that is of deep concern, that this occurred, that there was some involvement. Those allegations need to be fully examined to ensure that every single dollar of aid is go going to just that, aid,” the PM said.
An Australian government insider this week accused the Israeli ambassador of making “shockingly amateurish and counterproductive” comments in a rift over reinstating the funding.
The Greens will this week put forward a motion in parliament seeking to reverse Australia’s support for Israeli actions in Gaza.
“Labor must stop backing the invasion. With 26,000 people dead, a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding and the International Court of Justice intervening, Labor must withdraw its support for the invasion when parliament resumes,” the party’s leader, Adam Bandt, said.
“Labor must stop backing the invasion and join the community in pushing for a permanent ceasefire, the release of the hostages and an end to the occupation of Palestine.”