The conflict in the Middle East has shown why the Australian Defence Force needs to urgently restructure and prepare for evolving threats, an official says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The defence force needed to be fit for purpose in "a more precarious strategic era", Department of Defence secretary Greg Moriarty told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
"The brutal assault on Israeli civilians by Hamas illustrates that strategic surprise is an enduring feature of our work," he said.
Defence force chief General Angus Campbell also warned of a drawn-out conflict as the situation remained uncertain and "in its early stages".
Two additional Australian air force planes and extra defence personnel are being moved to the Middle East in case the situation deteriorates.
Australia's deployment - which brings the total aircraft in the area to three - was purely precautionary, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
Where the aircraft will be deployed and the number of troops that will accompany them are being kept under wraps.
Australians have been told to leave as the government works to repatriate citizens and their families from the conflict zone.
The defence force has helped 394 Australians, their families and approved foreign nations to leave Israel on five flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai.
Another flight carrying 97 Australians and approved foreign nationals flew from Dubai to Perth.
Defence personnel in the region have been accounted for and are safe.
More than 1800 Australians registered with the foreign affairs department have left Israel and occupied Palestinian territories.
The Australian government continues to help almost 80 people trapped in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has added Australia's voice to the international chorus of calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Humanitarian aid trickling into Gaza had been "nowhere near enough", she said.
New Zealand's prime minister and foreign minister also called for the establishment of designated safe areas that were strictly off limits as targets.
Israeli air strikes killed 700 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the most recent attacks, bringing the Palestinian death toll to almost 6000, including 2360 children.
Israel has also laid siege to the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the territory - about half of whom are children - meaning no food, water, fuel or electricity has reached them.
Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the Australian government - killed 1400 Israelis and took 200 people taken hostage in its October 7 attack.
Asked whether the Gaza death toll was proportionate, Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said you could not "measure the legitimacy of the Israeli response by the number of the casualties".
He pointed to the death and suffering of innocent Israelis and said the response needed to be measured in his country's adherence to international law, which he said it was doing.
Palestine's envoy to Australia accused Israel of collective punishment by enforcing an embargo on fuel and supplies and breaching humanitarian law by bombarding thousands of innocent civilians.
"This is really criminal, this is brutal. This exceeds, to a large extent, the concept of self-defence," Izzat Abdulhadi told ABC TV.
Senator Wong said the way Israel exercised its right to self-defence mattered and innocent Palestinians "should not suffer because of the outrages perpetrated by Hamas".
Australian Associated Press
