During the official visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, members and partners of the Global Sanctions Coalition (GSC) have lodged two submissions calling on the Australian Government to immediately impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities directly complicit in grave human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
These submissions are being lodged amid the Australian Government’s ongoing failure to respond meaningfully to the atrocities in Gaza. For more than two years, Gaza has been subjected to genocide, war crimes, deliberate devastation of civilian populations, infrastructure, and essential services, alongside the systematic engineering of famine. Israel continues to pursue its actions, with its Cabinet just approving rules to further enable illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Despite this, Australia has continued to limit its response to diplomatic manoeuvring, and is currently hosting the President of Israel, complicit in grave human rights abuses, on an official visit.
Australia-based GSC partners, including the Jewish Council of Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Australian Palestine Advocacy Network and Medical Association for Prevention of War are urging the Government to use its existing sanctions framework to hold accountable those directly responsible for the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, as well as those driving the dispossession and displacement of Palestinians through illegal settlement expansion.
In the absence of decisive measures against Israel to halt its ongoing genocide, Australia has the capability under its autonomous sanctions framework to exercise its moral and legal responsibility to impose targeted sanctions on actors complicit in the commission of grave human rights abuses.
The second submission calls for targeted sanctions on the World Zionist Organization (WZO), an organisation that is being welcomed by the Australian Government this week as part of Herzog’s delegation, its Settlement Division, the leadership of its Settlement Division, including newly appointed Head Yishai Merling and Director General Hosha’aya Harari, as well as Minister Orit Strook of the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions. These actors are identified for their central role in the dispossession and displacement of Palestinian civilians, and the expansion of illegal and unauthorised Israeli settlements and outposts in the OPT.
The first submission calls for the immediate imposition of Magnitsky-style sanctions against three individuals and their associated entities: Alon Elgali (Meshek Afar Ltd), Harel Libi (Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd), and Uria Loberbom (founder of the Uria Unit), for their direct involvement in the widescale destruction of civilian property in Gaza. All three are principals of companies that provide and operate heavy machinery, including bulldozers and excavators, used in these operations.
The submissions form part of a broader, coordinated global effort, with parallel recommendations lodged with the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Together, they reflect growing international recognition that impunity for atrocities in Gaza and the OPT cannot continue unchecked, particularly where diplomatic engagement and international accountability mechanisms have not delivered justice. Australia and other governments must establish a clear precedent that Israel’s violations of human rights and international law cannot be committed without the global community seeking justice and accountability.
Amnesty International Australia’s Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson, Mohamed Duar, says:
“The Global Sanctions Coalition’s submissions are an urgent wake-up call to governments worldwide. They send a clear message that Israel’s ongoing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory cannot be ignored, and those responsible cannot continue to act with impunity.
“The Global Sanctions Coalition’s submissions are an urgent wake-up call to governments worldwide.”
Amnesty International Australia’s Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson, Mohamed Duar,
“No one is above the law and justice for Palestinians cannot wait. Palestinians in Gaza continue to endure unimaginable suffering under genocide, the World’s longest occupation.
“As Australia hosts President Herzog, cited by Amnesty, the International Court of Justice and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry for incitement to genocide, the Government must honour its obligation under International and domestic law to hold perpetrators to account.”
Executive Officer at Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Katie Shammas, says:
“The presence of a senior figure linked to settlement expansion within President Herzog’s official delegation only underscores the urgency of targeted sanctions.
“The Australian government has shown it is willing to use targeted sanctions in response to serious international crimes – just not when it comes to Israel.
“The Australian government has shown it is willing to use targeted sanctions in response to serious international crimes – just not when it comes to Israel.”
Executive Officer at Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Katie Shammas
“After 28 months of genocide in Gaza, the displacement of more than two million people, and the killing of tens of thousands, the issue is not a lack of legal authority. It is whether sanctions are applied consistently when grave human rights abuses occur.”
Executive Member at the Jewish Council of Australia, Bart Shteinman, says:
“Isaac Herzog may call illegal settlements a ‘’cornerstone of Judaism’ but many Australian Jews are utterly opposed to Israel’s program of land theft, creeping annexation and apartheid in the West Bank.
“The Australian government has correctly designated settlements as illegal under international law but done little to hold those who profit from them responsible.
“The Australian government has correctly designated settlements as illegal under international law but done little to hold those who profit from them responsible.”
Executive Member at the Jewish Council of Australia, Bart Shteinman
“If Australia is still committed to the rules based international order it will sanction the World Zionist Organisation and its settlement division, alongside every individual and organisation complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement program.”
Background
The Global Sanctions Coalition is a nonpartisan international alliance that mobilises civil society and allies to promote the effective and ethical use of economic sanctions. Their mission is twofold: to ensure sanctions are precisely targeted to halt mass atrocities and protect civilians, and to drive the recalibration of programs that are inconsistent, biased, or counterproductive.
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 10 million people who take injustice personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all – and we can only do it with your support.
Act now or learn more about our human rights work.
