Scott Morrison says world should not be ‘suckered into’ supporting Gaza ceasefire

The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has told reporters in Israel the world should not get “suckered into” supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, calling it a “play from Hamas”.

The former Liberal party leader touched down in Israel on Sunday, joined by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.

The two reportedly met with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, on Sunday before touring southern Israel amid its conflict against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the besieged strip.

Morrison told reporters there was a “willingness” to ensure humanitarian support in his discussions with Israeli officials but said he did not support a ceasefire.

He said: “Do you provide a pause and a ceasefire to allow Hamas to regroup? To get themselves in a position to resist even further?

“I mean … this is the play from Hamas and we’ve got to be careful not to be suckered into it.”

The comments follow a passionate display in the Senate after the Greens’ deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, staged a boycott of question time with 10 of her fellow senators.

Faruqi, who wore a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, told parliament Labor’s “weasel words are not going to stop war crimes” and shouted “free, free Palestine” in parliament with her fist raised before the Greens senators left the chamber.

“You are watching the massacre of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, and you are not condemning Israel, you refuse to call for an immediate ceasefire,” she told the Senate.

The senior Labor government minister Don Farrell told the Senate he “completely rejects” Faruqi’s allegations, describing the Israeli military action as the “consequences” of the “unjustified, illegal” Hamas attacks. He said the Australian government had “affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself after that horrific attack”, but noted the foreign minister had also said it “mattered” how Israel exercises its right to self-defence.

Australia has continued to call for a humanitarian pause to allow food, water and medicine to reach Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who remain trapped within the territory.

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Farrell, in his response to a question from Faruqi, sidestepped committing to supporting a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Australia abstained at a UN general assembly vote in October urging an “immediate, durable and sustainable humanitarian truce”. Australian officials later said they agreed with the position but abstained because the resolution did not name Hamas as perpetrator of the 7 October attacks.

The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, also argued against a ceasefire on Monday morning, saying Israel’s removal of Hamas was a “legitimate military objective”.

“A ceasefire would just allow Hamas to regroup. It would allow them to continue to hold more than 200 hostages and it would allow them to again prepare for another attack on Israel,” he said.

“Having said that, it is, of course, important for Israel and the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] to do what they can to minimise civilian casualties, and that is what they have done in previous conflicts and that’s what we expect them to do in this conflict.”