'Alarmed at diminishing safe space for civilians': Australia, Canada, New Zealand support Gaza ceasefire

The prime ministers of the three countries gave a joint statement on Tuesday.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday backed urgent international efforts towards a "sustainable ceasefire" in Gaza in a coordinated show of concern shortly after the U.S. warned Israel of declining support over its military campaign.

People search through the rubble of damaged buildings following an Israeli air strike on Palestinian houses, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (REUTERS)

"We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians," the three prime ministers said in a joint statement.

A ceasefire cannot be one-sided and Hamas must release all hostages and stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, they added.

Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel was losing support over its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu should change his hard-line government, exposing a new rift with the Israeli prime minister.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa that he had "a very long conversation" with Netanyahu on Tuesday about Canada's position on the Gaza conflict and commitment towards a two-state solution for the region.

Trudeau has consistently said Israel has the right to defend itself after the deadly rampage by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7, but as the death toll in its retaliatory action in Gaza has mounted, he has gradually hardened his tone.

Last month, he said the "killing of women, of children, of babies" in the Palestinian enclave must stop - comments that were rebuked by Netanyahu on social media.