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The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) was among many pro-Palestine organisations around the world that responded positively, yet cautiously, to the news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

It said on January 16 it welcomed the “” ceasefire announcement in Gaza as “a glimmer of hope”. But it warned that Israel must not be allowed to “use this ceasefire as a cover to regroup and continue its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people”.

APAN President Nasser Mashni said: “A ceasefire is not justice — it is a fleeting reprieve that will never undo the profound pain caused by Israel’s genocide, nor will it, alone, prevent the next wave of bloodshed. Justice means liberation.

“The ceasefire must not be a smokescreen for complacency. Australia must rise to this moment by cutting all military ties with Israel, imposing sanctions and holding Israeli officials and entities accountable in international courts.

“To remain silent in the face of this brutality is to stand on the wrong side of history. It’s time for Australia to stand for justice, accountability, and a free Palestine,” he said.

Mashni paid tribute to the resilience of Gazans and all Palestinians, saying it is “not just a story of survival, but a call to the world to end its complicity”.

APAN called on the Australian government and the international community to ensure this ceasefire is not “merely a temporary pause in Israel’s genocidal violence”.

“Australia must commit to addressing the root causes of Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid in Palestine.

“Without an arms embargo, sanctions and mechanisms to ensure accountability and liberation for Palestine, a ceasefire will be little more than a bandage over an open wound.”

APAN said the strength and determination of Gazans and all Palestinians “have served as profound reminders of the power of truth, the depth of human courage and solidarity and the urgent need for justice and liberation”.

Even as the , supposed to come into effect on January 19, Israel was attacking Gaza.

“In the past 24 hours, Israel has intensified its bombing of Gaza City, targeting schools-turned-shelters, homes and vital infrastructure. Israel also continues to bomb Lebanon, highlighting its disdain for life, justice and international law,” APAN said.

“The actions of the Israeli government during the past 15 months, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relentless attempts to sabotage multiple ceasefire proposals — including a ceasefire proposal containing the same terms of this one — reveal a deliberate strategy to sustain genocide and apartheid under the guise of ‘security’ and ‘self-defence’.”

APAN said such strategies are “unacceptable”, arguing that a ceasefire “must be the beginning of global action to end Israel’s genocidal war”.

It is demanding that Labor either implement or support:

• A two-way arms embargo on Israel, immediately ceasing all trade — exports, imports and transfers, direct and indirect — to Israel to stem its ongoing violence in Palestine and across the region;
• Immediate sanctions, as an expression of economic and political pressure to compel Israel to stop its international law violations in Palestine and beyond;
• Accountability and justice, including international court investigations and prosecutions of Israeli officials, military figures, organisations and others responsible for this genocide and other international crimes;
• Liberation and self-determination for Palestine, via the dismantling of Israel’s apartheid regime, genocidal policies and its illegal occupation; and
• Meaningful international support for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Gaza, ensuring that this rebuilding ensures the end to Israeli occupation, the restoration of Palestinian sovereignty, and strengthening of Palestinian communities.

The (SA BDS Coalition) said it “joins with the people of Gaza in the hope that this will provide respite from over 15 months of the genocidal Israeli regime’s terror against the Palestinian people”.

Ronnie Kasrils, patron of the SA BDS Coalition, said on January 15 that the “steadfastness of the people of Gaza represent one of the most astonishing examples of collective courage in history”.

The SA BDS Coalition also said the “genocide could not have occurred without the political and military support provided by the United States, Germany, Britain and other European states”. Since October 2023, the US has provided more than US$26 billion in armaments to Israel.

“This is [US President Joe] Biden’s legacy — he has blood on his hands.”

Israel’s “unparalleled impunity is what has allowed it to maintain its 76-year-old regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid and emboldened it to unleash the world’s first live streamed genocide”.

“Israel is a threat to humanity. Most nations today see Israel as a rogue genocidal state that openly defies international law.”

It said a ceasefire “is only the most important first step” to end the genocide. “Without massive pressure, it may constitute a continuation of a less visible form of genocide, that Israel and the US will hope to provoke less global outrage, boycotts and sanctions.”

SA BDS Coalition said without serious accountability, Israel’s mass extermination “experiment” in Gaza “will be a model for an unprecedented might-makes-right era, where powerful colonial states can ‘dispose of’ weaker nations and racialised communities everywhere”.

“Now more than ever, we need effective international solidarity to ensure accountability.”