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Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson condemned Albanese for not having spoken with Netanyahu,doubling down on opposition criticisms of Labor’s allegedly meek response to the war.

“Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken to dozens and dozens of world leaders. It wouldn’t be an accident that they’ve not spoken and the prime minister and the government has provided no explanation for why that’s the case,” Paterson told this masthead.

“If the prime minister can’t go to Israel because he’s too busy or he can’t fit in with all his international travel,[then] that’s the job of the foreign minister[Penny Wong].”

“We’ve seen countries like Italy,the United States,the United Kingdom,Germany,France,the European Union all represented,they’ve all had attendees go at the highest level. I can’t understand why Australia doesn’t see it has equal interest.”

Asked on Tuesday morning if he had spoken to Netanyahu,Albanese said:“No,I have spoken to the Israeli ambassador to Australia on a couple of occasions.”

“And the views that I’ve put are consistent with the resolution that was carried by the parliament. We remain absolutely horrified by the Hamas attacks on Israel. These are abhorrent acts of terror against innocent civilians.”

Wong has spoken to the Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen since the attack and met with Israeli ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon.

A government spokesperson said that “Australia is in close contact with the Israeli government”.

“The Israeli government is in no doubt of Australia’s steadfast support for Israel’s right to defend itself,just as they know Australia is united with the international community in our call for Israel to operate by the rules of war,and in calling for civilian life to be protected,” they said.

On Monday,Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials told Senate estimates that the government had been trying to arrange a call between the two leaders.

On Tuesday afternoon,Wong posted on X that she was “appalled by reports of arson at Adelaide mosques this week.”

Seven News reported there have been two reports of arson at Adelaide mosques.

Paterson said Albanese had been slow to respond to the initial outbreak of violence and argued Wong misread the gravity of the unfolding tragedy when she called for “restraint” in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ actions.

“That’s not what we said after September 11. That’s not what we said after the rise of the Caliphate,” he said.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia,Amir Maimon.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Paterson added that Israel should conduct its military response in the manner expected of liberal democracies,as it prepares for a likely ground invasion that will only contribute to a Gazan death toll that Hamas claims now tops 5000.

“But we also absolutely understand why they need to do what they’re doing right now against Hamas,” Paterson said.

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More coverage of the Hamas-Israel conflict

Cascading violence:Tremors from the Hamas attacks and Israel’s response have reached far beyond the border. But what would all-outwar in the Middle East look like?
The human cost: Hamas’ massacre in Israel has traumatised – and hardened – survivors. And in Gaza,neighbourhoods have become ghost cities.
“Hamas metro”:Inside thelabyrinthine network of underground tunnels,which the Palestinian militant group has commanded beneath war-ravaged Gaza for 16 years. The covert corridors have long provided essential channels for the movement of weapons and armed combatants.
What is Hezbollah?: As fears of the conflict expanding beyond Israel and Hamas steadily rise,all eyes are on the militant group and political party that controls southern Lebanon and has been designated internationally as a terrorist group.How did it form and what does Iran have to do with it?

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