The Rudd government treads softly, but the message is clear :
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said the government was deeply concerned about the continuing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
"The death of Palestinian civilians in conflict is tragic and we urge Israel to ensure that it takes all precautions to avoid and minimise harm to civilians," she said.
"The Australian government supports the proper investigation of allegations of violations of international law."
That's diplomatic speak for 'war crimes'.
The Rudd government doesn't have to look too far to find obvious violations of international law by Israel :
1. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make the civilian population as such, individual civilians or civilian objects the object of attack by incendiary weapons.
2. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.
A federal Labor source says that the disgust and anger at Israel's slaughter of hundreds of children in Gaza, and the targeting of hospitals, schools and even UN food warehouses, is deep and wide and very much alive across the government, including many of those politicians who have long thought that Israel could do next to no wrong.
Apparently, during the Christmas-New Year break, a lot of federal, and state, politicians copped earfuls of questions, outrage and abuse from friends and family and neighbours on why Australia was so quiet about what Israel was doing to the people of Gaza, and why we were not, as a nation, voicing our opposition to a War On Terror ally killing and wounding thousands of civilians.
Some will try and convince you that the only Australians fully outraged and disgusted by the destruction of Gaza and the slaying of so many children are Muslims with Palestinian-heritage.
They are liars.
