More Than Recognition Is Needed at This Late Stage in the Gaza Genocide
Recognising a state under siege whilst supplying its oppressors doesn't cut it...
Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced that the nation of Australia was formally recognising the state of Palestine during a press conference in New York on Sunday 21 September 2025. But recognising a country that Israel is currently in the midst of genociding a large section of its population seems to much of the planet a shallow gesture at this point in the killing spree.
Albanese was standing before New York’s East River and beside foreign minister Penny Wong as he told the press that Australia recognises “the legitimate and long held aspirations of the people of Palestine of a state of their own”. But as he did, Israel was continuing its ground invasion of Gaza City, amidst its two-year-old heinous perpetration of genocide with likely 680,000 Palestinians murdered.
Wong and the PM determined to recognise the state of Palestine on 11 August, taking their lead from other nations already on their way to doing so, which included the UK, Canada and France. All of these nations then recognised Palestine at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly last week.
The rising chorus in this country is clear, the government must stop trading arms with Israel and sanction Tel Aviv in a similar way to as it has done to Moscow over Ukraine. The extent of the support for the Palestinians was borne out at the Sydney Harbour Bridge march, which saw a significant outpouring of civil society that directly prompted Albanese to recognise Palestine.
Human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter suggests that if Albanese wants to make a real difference, he should consider the steps set out in the 19 July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in regard to Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, as it would ensure this country is doing all it can to end the genocide, as per the Genocide Convention.
Ending all ties with Israel
“While it is welcome that the Australian government recognises the independent and sovereign state of Palestine. What is it going to do to back it up?” said Tranter in a 25 September statement. “The steps specified in the July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion technically may be nonbinding, but they are steps that Australia can and legally is obliged to take to comply with… the Genocide Convention.”
Article 1 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide maintains that if a genocide is in progress, whether in peace time or as part of a war, state parties must act to prevent the atrocity and punish the perpetrators. Australia ratified the convention on 8 July 1949. Tranter points out, this is binding, and the Albanese government is well aware of this.
“You could not get clearer guidance on appropriate first measures than a checklist provided by the world’s highest court about what all state parties should do,” Tranter added.
The inquiry on Israel in occupied Palestine commenced in late 2022, when the UN General Assembly requested the advisory opinion. The ICJ found mid-last year that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory is illegal, and it should withdraw. In terms of other states, the ICJ is clear that they should not recognise Israel’s occupation as legitimate or deal with the rogue nation in this regard.
Further, state parties must not act in a manner that assists Israel in its occupation and rather they should ensure it is brought to an end. Putting this into action, Tranter assesses, would mean our nation cutting off defence cooperation with Israel, along with suspending political and diplomatic relations and bringing an end to economic and financial interactions with Tel Aviv.
“Both our actions and our inaction have supported the genocide,” the lawyer continued. “Australia has failed to take any positive action to prevent the genocide.”
Australia couriers to kill
Wong has been clear since early on in the now two-year-long slaughter and starvation program that the government has not exported any weapons to Israel for the past five years, despite the fact that Greens Senator David Shoebridge had raised details of export permits that were posted on the DFAT website and suggested otherwise. Wong labelled his assertions as dealings in misinformation.
Also a journalist, Tranter revealed early on in the genocide in Declassified Australia that RUAG Australia is the only producer of the devices that open the weapons bay doors of the F-35 jet fighters that have been dropping bombs on Gazans for two years now, and then in July this year, she revealed that F-35 spare parts are being directly exported to Israel to ensure the killing doesn’t pause.
Declassified’s Peter Cronau further revealed today that 68 shipments of F-35 jet fighter parts have been couriered from Australia directly to Israel between October 2023 and September 2025, and the most recent shipment was just two weeks back. Yet, the PM continued to deny any trade, “full stop”.
Recognising Palestine as Albanese saw to it on 21 September had been something that he and Wong had been planning to do since 2018, and the proposal was listed on the 2021 federal Labor policy platform. However, it was not progressed on taking office in May 2022, and when the genocide broke out in October 2023, the dynamic duo then rather ran the ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’ line.
The Israeli military is invading Gaza City again and the only food aid site in the long-term starvation zone is staffed by US mercenaries who shoot down starving Palestinians randomly at will.
The Albanese government appears to be acting in the interests of the Palestinians in recognising their state, but his nation and that of the UK continue to assist Israel militarily, and the prime minister’s words don’t do anything to prevent the bloodshed.
“All of the steps outlined by the International Court of Justice,” Tranter continued last week, “are steps that Australia can take, legally must take and has consistently failed to take.”
“Step up Australia. Give humanity, morality and international law their proper priority over financial interests and geopolitical manoeuvring,” the human rights lawyer concluded.
