Military aircraft sent to Middle East ‘as a contingency’

“We are putting that in place really as a contingency to support Australian populations in the Middle East, bearing in mind that this is a very volatile situation, and we just don’t absolutely know which way it goes from here as the world really holds its breath watching it,” Mr Marles told Nine television.

Nonetheless, he said any Australians in Israel or Lebanon thinking of leaving should consider taking a commercial flight.

“We are taking these steps to put a contingency in place, but if you want to leave, leave. Take whatever commercial options are available to you now,” he said.

The military aircraft include a C-17 transporter and a KC-30 refueller, both of which can carry passengers.

The US, which has 600,000 citizens in Israel alone, is drawing up much bigger contingency plans in case the violence broadens if, as appears likely, Israel sends troops into Gaza.

Mr Marles said as of the latest count, there were 79 Australians in Gaza and 51 in the West Bank.

“The people we’re really concerned about are those in Gaza, where it’s a much, much more difficult situation,” he said.

“We’re urging those people to move south within Gaza, and we’re working with the international community to try and establish that humanitarian corridor that we’ve seen operating in terms of getting humanitarian goods into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who at the weekend travelled to Washington with staff and media, was lukewarm about French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to form an international coalition to fight Hamas.

Mr Macron proposed reviving the international coalition against Islamic State to take on Hamas following its October 7 attack in Israel that killed 1400 people. Retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza have killed thousands of Palestinians, officials in the Hamas-controlled territory there say.

“France is ready for the international coalition against Daesh [Islamic State], in which we are taking part, for operations in Iraq and Syria to also fight against Hamas,” Mr Macron said.

The coalition was led by the US and included Australia.

Mr Albanese had not heard the details about Mr Macron’s proposal but was guarded in his response.

“Certainly, we agree with the United States that it’s important that we avoid spillover on this issue, which would be bad for Israel [and] bad for the region,” he said.

“Our priority is the one I gave to a previous question, which is humanitarian assistance. We want to see the people of Gaza have access to water and essentials.

“It’s really important that innocent civilians be provided with that support. And our priority, as well, is providing support for Australians who are wanting to leave.”