There is a 24-hour vigil outside the parliament, which includes members of parliament, doctors, journalists, academics, actors, writers, and community members reading the names of more than 17,000 Palestinian children who have been killed by Israel over the last 22 months in Gaza.

(Full disclosure, I plan on attending the vigil and also reading some of the names).

The action is jointly hosted by seven Australian civil society organisations – Action Aid Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Caritas Australia, ChildFund Australia, MAA International, Oxfam Australia, Plan International Australia, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to demand immediate and concrete action from the Australian Government to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. 

From the statement:

Israel’s brutal campaign has claimed over 58,000 lives to date, with tens of thousands more wounded or missing under rubble. The event will honour the children killed in Gaza, reading their names and ages aloud continuously over 24 hours.

We welcome the strong statement signed overnight by the Foreign Minister on Australia’s behalf, calling for an immediate end to the war on Gaza and for the full flow of aid. But without urgent and concrete action, these words ring hollow. The Australian Government must now take concrete action to pressure Israel to end the illegal siege, uphold the rights of civilians, and demand accountability after months of injustice faced by Palestinians in Gaza. 
 
The vigil will be a time for mourning and commemoration. The Voices For Gaza group will also make the following demands on the Australian government:

  1. Apply pressure on Israel for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing killing of civilians;
  2. Use its power in international forums to demand Israel abide international law and to support international accountability mechanisms, including those of the International Court of Justice;
  3. Immediately suspend the export of weapons parts, munitions and military support to Israel, directly and via intermediate countries, to ensure Australia is not complicit in crimes committed in the illegally occupied Palestinian Territory;
  4. Apply full diplomatic pressure to restore safe, unimpeded, and sustained access for humanitarian relief in Gaza, led by United Nations aid delivery mechanisms and grounded in international humanitarian law;
  5. Advocate for a political solution that ends Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation, lifts the blockade on Gaza and upholds the Palestinian right to self-determination.