Joint Statement: Let Gaza Live: Aid is Not a Bargaining Chip — Australia Must Join the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza

We, the undersigned Australian civil society and community organisations, call on the Australian Government to publicly commit to joining a diplomatic humanitarian convoy to accompany aid trucks into Gaza via the Rafah Crossing and Let Gaza Live.

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We, the undersigned Australian civil society and community organisations, call on the Australian Government to publicly commit to joining a diplomatic humanitarian convoy to accompany aid trucks into Gaza via the Rafah Crossing and Let Gaza Live. 

The decision by Israeli authorities to temporarily allow limited humanitarian aid into Gaza is not a breakthrough — it is a damning admission that the deliberate starvation of civilians has never been a logistical failure, but a political weapon. 

For months, the Israeli government has blocked the entry of food, medicine, water, and fuel into Gaza, manufacturing a crisis of mass hunger and human suffering in full view of the international community. This week’s announcement — that some aid trucks may be permitted to enter over a narrow five-day window — is not a shift in policy, but a public relations exercise designed to deflect from the ongoing siege and growing international pressure. 

This is not aid. This is coercion. Humanitarian assistance must never be conditional on forced displacement, military vetting, or the political aims of occupying powers. To continue participating in or legitimising such frameworks is to become complicit in collective punishment and ethnic cleansing. 

We echo the unified call from Palestinian civil society organisations, joined by humanitarian and human rights organisations worldwide, for the urgent launch of a diplomatic humanitarian convoy, to accompany the aid trucks already waiting at the Rafah Crossing. Aid must flow unconditionally, immediately, and across all of Gaza, including the North, where needs are catastrophic, in line with humanitarian principles and international law — not Israeli military control. 

In light of mounting evidence of war crimes and the weaponisation of aid, we call on the Australian Government to urgently impose targeted sanctions on 

Israeli officials responsible for grave violations of international law — Words of concern are no longer enough. 

We also call on the Australian Government to: 

  • Support the call for an end for the illegal blockade and illegal siege on Gaza; 
  • Comply with its third state obligations, including its obligations under the Genocide Convention and the provisional orders and Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice; 
  • Publicly support the ICC investigations into crimes committed in illegally occupied Palestinian territory; 
  • Take steps to ensure Australia is not complicit through arms transfers, surveillance technologies, or dual-use exports. 

This moment demands courage. Inaction will lead to mass death by starvation, enable further grave violations, and undermine the international legal system. We are calling on you today to: Let Gaza Live. End the Starvation. End the Siege. Open the Crossings. Join the Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy. 

SIGNATORIES 

Initial Signatories: 

Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ)

MAA International 

Amnesty International Australia 

ActionAid Australia 

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN)

Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA 

Islamic Relief Australia 

Democracy In Colour 

Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA)

Additional Signatories: 

Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN)

Arab Australian Federation 

Arab Council Australia 

Arab Theatre Studio, on Dharug Country 

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre 

Bass Coast 4 Palestine 

Blue Mountains Peace Collective 

Canberra Palestinian Community CPC 

Canberra Palestine and Climate Justice 

Celebrate Palestine South West 

Christians for Peace Newcastle 

Free Palestine Melbourne 

Friends of the Eart Australia 

Hunar Symposia 

Independent and Peaceful Australia Network 

Italian Federation of Migrant Workers and their families, FILEF. 

Jewish Council of Australia 

Jews Against the Occupation ’48 

Jubilee Australia Research Centre 

Just Peace Qld 

Loud Jew Collective 

Marrickville Peace Group 

Medical Association for Prevention of War 

National Zakat Foundation 

Northern Beaches Committee for Palestine 

Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network (PIEN)

Palestinian Workers Union 

Quakers Australia 

Queensland Quakers 

Spirit of Eureka – South Australia 

United Australian Palestinian Workers 

we are the mainstream. 

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