Australian peacekeepers in Gaza would be ‘Hamas targets’, Liberal senator warns

Australian troops would be obvious targets for attack by Hamas militants if they were to join an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, a Liberal senator has warned as outspoken MP Andrew Hastie launched a provocative argument against sending defence personnel to the ravaged territory.

This masthead reported on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority had urged Australia to contribute forces to a United Nations-endorsed stabilisation mission to help take over from the Israeli military and ensure the fragile ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump does not collapse.

The Albanese government has said it is open to participating, although any involvement would likely be limited in scope and may not involve Australian personnel on the ground.

Debate over Australia’s possible role comes as businessman Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation announced it would donate $10 million to support urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza in a package co-ordinated with the United Nations.

The package, which takes Minderoo’s total support for Gaza to $51 million, will focus on addressing urgent psychosocial and mental health impacts of the war, particularly for Palestinian children.

Liberal senator Dave Sharma, who served as ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017, said that “the bulk or entirety of a peacekeeping force should be drawn from the Arab and Muslim world” because these troops would have the most legitimacy with Gazans.

“Australian troops, or troops from other Western nations, would be an obvious target for Hamas or groups like Islamic Jihad,” Sharma said.

Sharma said he could imagine Australian troops helping to police the border between Gaza and Egypt or training Palestinian police, but not playing an active military role in Gaza.

Andrew Hastie responded to this masthead’s interview with the Palestinian Authority’s deputy foreign minister Omar Awadallah on Sunday.

“I’ve pretty strong views on this,” the former special forces troop commander told his followers on Instagram this week.

“Here’s the deal: there should be no ADF troops into Gaza until Palestinian refugees, the nearly 2000 of them, go home.

“When it’s safe enough for our refugees to go home to Gaza then it’s safe enough for our ADF troops to follow them.”

Hastie and Sharma’s views differed from former prime minister Tony Abbott who said last week that he would be “very happy” to see Australian troops playing a role.

Hastie resigned from the Coalition frontbench earlier this month after a disagreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley over portfolio responsibilities for immigration.

The federal government has a special visa pathway for Palestinians arriving from Gaza, which involves applicants arriving in Australia on a visitor visa and then being moved onto a humanitarian visa with ministerial discretion on a case-by-base basis.

The flow of arrivals has reduced to a trickle since Israel took control of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, with only 33 arriving in Australia in the first half of this year.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: “Australia always seeks to be a constructive member of the international community in supporting peace and stabilisation efforts in Gaza.

“The Australian government is contributing a liaison officer to the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Israel, in line with our commitment to support international efforts towards a just and enduring peace.”

Government sources, who were unable to speak publicly, said any Australian contribution to a stabilisation force in Gaza is expected to be small given it will be led by Middle Eastern nations and the government’s efforts are focused on the Indo-Pacific.

No official request to participate has been received, they added.

A month after Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan for Gaza, the structure and composition of a stabilisation force is still clouded by uncertainty.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said over the weekend that “we’ve had a lot of countries that have expressed an interest” in such a force.

“I think they’d want to know what’s the mandate, what’s the mission, what are the rules of engagement, what is this force supposed to do. All of that’s being worked on,” he said.

Awadallah told this masthead: “I think Australia can help in so many aspects, including by sending forces, by sending experts, by supporting the training of Palestinian security personnel.

“We believe that we need to see principled countries like Australia [involved in a stabilisation force] because we don’t want any kind of a trusteeship or new kind of occupation for the Palestinian territory.”

France and Italy have said they are willing to contribute to a stabilisation force in Gaza, while Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he is willing to send 20,000 of his nation’s troops to help secure the peace.

Israel has said it would not support Turkish troops serving in Gaza, while Trump has ruled out American boots on the ground there.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.