Labor urged to oppose UN motion and ‘stand with friends and allies’

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham has urged the Albanese government to “stand with friends and allies” by opposing a United Nations motion which makes no mention of Hamas. The United States is pressuring Australia to vote down a UN motion demanding Israel withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank. The draft legislation proposed by the Palestinian Authority also calls for sanctions against Israel. “With such a counterproductive and one-sided motion, a decision for the Albanese government should be clear cut and it should be to oppose it, to stand with friends and allies, and to continue to support long-standing bipartisan policy in Australia about how we ultimately negotiate a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News Australia.