Media Releases

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today strongly condemned Hamas for the barrage of hundreds of rockets directed from Gaza at Israeli civilians, which caused injury and damage and forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis to stay in bomb shelters.

AIJAC chairman Mark Leibler commented, “The targeting of civilians is a war crime, and is never acceptable, but the latest violence is particularly egregious. Hamas has both orchestrated clashes in Jerusalem’s holy sites during Ramadan and cynically seized on the potential eviction of some Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah as the result of the outcome of a long-standing court case over land ownership as pretexts to start a round of violence. However, as always, the underlying causes are this terror group’s refusal to accept Israel’s right to exist, and willingness to not only target Israeli civilians, but cynically put the lives of Gaza’s civilians in danger to score political points.”

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein added, “AIJAC notes that the incitement and violence has led to injuries and deaths, all of which were unnecessary and result in needless hardship, and expresses its sympathy to all those affected by Hamas’ indefensible actions, both Israeli and Palestinian.”

“Israel has the right and duty to defend all its citizens from attack, and while the death of any civilians is a tragedy, responsibility for any such deaths in Gaza must be sheeted home to Hamas, for orchestrating violence then firing rockets while concealing its military infrastructure embedded in civilian areas,” Rubenstein added.

“We call on the entire international community to condemn both the Hamas attacks and demand they cease, together with the incitement from Fatah and Hamas that preceded and continues to stoke the violence in Jerusalem,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.

For more information, see AIJAC’s Factsheet:  https://aijac.org.au/fact-sheets/factsheet-whats-behind-the-violence-in-jerusalem-and-gaza-rockets/

For further comment or interviews, phone Dr. Colin Rubenstein 0418 339 721 or Ahron Shapiro on 0433 686 340.