Senior Israeli politicians and the Coalition leapt upon Yousef\u2019s comments, saying they justified their warnings that Hamas would regard Palestinian recognition as a reward for terrorism.<\/p>\n
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar responded on social media by using a love heart emoji to say that \u201cHamas loves Albanese\u201d.<\/p>\n
Deputy Israeli foreign minister Sharren Haskel, who spent eight years living in Australia, said: \u201cWhen terrorists celebrate your foreign policy, it\u2019s a pretty disgraceful day for a great country like Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said that \u201cAlbanese should hang his head in shame\u201d after being praised by Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a sad day for our nation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley called for the government to rethink its decision to recognise Palestine, saying: \u201cNow prime minister, if you\u2019ve got a listed terrorist organisation cheering on your foreign policy, it might be time to admit that you got it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labor cabinet member Amanda Rishworth responded to Yousef\u2019s comments by saying Hamas was behaving predictably by spreading self-serving propaganda.<\/p>\n
The focus of the government\u2019s diplomatic efforts was \u201csidelining and excluding\u201d Hamas from any future Palestinian state, she told the ABC.<\/p>\n
Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023<\/a>, killing about 1200 people, including the massacre of young people at the Nova music festival and elderly residents and children living in kibbutzes near the Gaza border. It was the worst mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, also took around 250 people hostage, dozens of whom are believed to have died in captivity during the ensuing war. The incursion sparked a ferocious military response from Israel that has extended for almost two years and killed over 60,000 Palestinians.<\/p>\n Australia listed Hamas, which has launched rocket attacks into Israel and carried out suicide bombings, as a terror organisation in 2022, joining the United States, United Kingdom and other countries.<\/p>\n Asked whether Hamas believed its commitment to violence had encouraged countries like Australia to recognise Palestine, its co-founder Yousef said: \u201cYes, we believe that the escalation of armed resistance, including the operations carried out on October 7, has significantly contributed to highlighting the suffering of the Palestinian people and the injustice they face.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cResistance has proven to be an effective means to break the siege and bring the Palestinian cause back to the international discussion table.\u201d<\/p>\n Yousef\u2019s comments echo those of fellow Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who last week said the wave of Western nations moving to recognise a Palestinian state was the result of \u201cthe fruits\u201d of Hamas\u2019 October 7 massacre.<\/p>\n Hamas stated on August 2 that it would not disarm until a sovereign Palestinian state is created with its capital in Jerusalem, contradicting statements by US special envoy Steve Witkoff that Hamas was prepared to demilitarise to end the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n A government spokesperson said: \u201cWhat Australia has done is contribute international momentum towards a two-state solution, which Hamas opposes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are supporting the Arab League\u2019s efforts to isolate Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n A declaration by 22 Arab nations issued last month called for Hamas to lay down its weapons, release all remaining Israeli hostages and end its rule of the Gaza Strip in a major rebuke of the organisation.<\/p>\n The government spokesperson said Hamas \u201calways tries to manipulate facts for their own propaganda\u201d and that media outlets \u201chave a responsibility to make professional judgments to not promote propaganda of terrorist organisations to get cynical headlines\u201d.<\/p>\n Former Labor frontbencher Mike Kelly, the co-convenor of Labor Friends of Israel, said he and others had warned that Hamas would seize upon Australian recognition of Palestine to justify its violent tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe West is being played like a fiddle by a ruthless terrorist organisation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kelly said Hamas\u2019 refusal to disarm and determination to participate in elections showed Australia had extracted \u201cmeaningless\u201d commitments from the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said that Albanese had misunderstood Hamas\u2019 worldview.<\/p>\n \u201cThey feel like October 7 has worked perfectly and now brought them a step closer to total victory,\u201d he said. \u201cWestern governments have unwittingly played along with Hamas\u2019 vision of annihilation.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said: \u201cHamas has been emboldened, just like we told the government it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Australian National Imams Council said that Australian recognition of Palestine was \u201clong overdue\u201d, regardless of how Hamas or the Israeli government reacts.<\/p>\n \u201cComments by any group do not change the importance of the recognition and that it is in line with international law, United Nations resolutions, and the position of a growing number of nations around the world,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n