Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop:“The retaliatory acts from both sides that have led to civilian deaths and injuries are deeply regrettable"
Australians in the Gaza Strip are being urged to leave immediately as violence in the area continues to escalate.
The Australian embassy in Tel Aviv is arranging a one-off assisted departure of Australians from Gaza, and the federal government has asked those wanting to leave to urgently contact the department of foreign affairs and trade.
The government has upgraded its travel warnings for the area after reports that more than 130 people have been killed since the violence began five days ago.
The minister for foreign affairs, Julie Bishop, said she was “deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation” in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“The retaliatory acts from both sides that have led to civilian deaths and injuries are deeply regrettable, and I call on all parties to exercise restraint and do everything necessary to avoid a further escalation of violence,” she said.
In Sydney on Sunday about 4000 people rallied to protest against the Israeli airstrikes and troop build-up along the Gaza border.
Chanting slogans such as “Israel, USA, how many kids did you kill today?”, the crowd converged on St Andrews Square, Town Hall, at 1pm.
The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon told the crowd: “Israel is targeting the civilians of Gaza with these bombings, and that is shameful and that is what we condemn.
She said she did not want to see missiles fired from either side, but said “this is a war of the oppressor versus the oppressed”.
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