Foreign Minister Penny Wong says “continued retribution” in the Middle East will not bring peace to the region and fears violence in Lebanon could escalate.
Wong’s comments come after it was confirmed on Saturday that , leader of , had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the capital Beirut the previous day.
, Nasrallah’s killing has also heightened concerns that the conflict could spiral into a regional war.
Israel is already at war with Hamas, a Hezbollah ally and militant rulers of the Palestinian enclave Gaza.
Nasrallah’s killing comes two months after , the head of Hamas’ political wing, while he was in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
It also follows used by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across Lebanon. The blasts killed at least 39 people, including some children, and wounded nearly 3,000 in an attack widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented directly on the attack.
Asked if she supported Israel’s alleged use of pagers to conduct deadly attacks, Australia’s foreign minister pointed to the cycle of violence taking place.
“The continued retribution … will not bring peace and it will not bring security, which is why Australia and others, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and diplomacy to try and resolve this,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
“Because we have seen so many people, so many people die.”
Wong reiterated her call for Australians to flee Lebanon as soon as they can and said she was concerned about escalating violence.
Nasrallah assassination ‘had to be done’: Nationals senator
In , Wong repeated the federal government’s call for that it believes would end the “endless cycle of violence” in the Middle East.
She also said the UN Security Council set a “pathway” for such a deal and a “clear timeline for the international declaration of Palestinian statehood” in which Hamas would play no role.
Nationals senator and opposition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie was critical of Wong’s speech, accusing the foreign minister of “trashing” Australia’s “decades-long bipartisan approach to a negotiated two-state solution in the Middle East”.
“What Penny Wong’s calling for on the floor of the UN is absolutely playing domestic politics with a very, very serious situation,” she told ABC’s Insiders.
McKenzie also said Nasrallah’s assassination was a step that “had to be done to show force” to prevent further escalation.
Asked if she backed an immediate ceasefire, McKenzie said Hezbollah — which holds just under half the seats in Lebanon’s parliament — needed to get out from the northern border of Israel.
Australian demonstrations
Their remarks come as Palestinian groups called on Australians to stand in solidarity with Gazans on a national day of action on Sunday, ahead of commemorations for the first anniversary of the outbreak on 7 October.
Demonstrators gathered at the State Library in Melbourne and Sydney Town Hall, and in smaller cities and towns.
Jewish communities will hold a series of events to observe the anniversary of the attack which Zionist Federation of Australia chief executive Alon Cassuto said carried an immense weight of grief and despair.
Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and about 250 others were taken hostage.
Israel has bombarded Gaza in the near year-long war, killing 41,000 people and plunging the Palestinian territory into a deep humanitarian crisis.
In Lebanon, more than 1,000 people have been killed and 6,000 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks in the past two weeks, according to the country’s health ministry. More than 200,000 are estimated to be displaced.
Australia lists both Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organisations.
With the Australian Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.