Hundreds of Canberrans gathered on the lawns of Parliament House on Saturday night to pray for Palestinians following news Gaza is in a blackout and that Israel has stepped up retaliatory attacks.
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Gaza is being hit by Israeli air strikes in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the communications blackout in Gaza was caused by Israeli bombardments.
The United Nations General Assembly has called for a humanitarian truce between Israel and Palestine.
Australia abstained from voting for or against the resolution.
Organiser Emad Soliman said he planned the Parliament House lawn prayer session and protest about five hours before it started at 6pm.
He said between 250 to 300 people attended.
"There are a lot of questions need to be asked for the political leadership and that's why we came to the Parliament House as an icon of democracy and freedom of speech," Mr Soliman said.
"We wonder ... how Mr Albanese and Penny Wong can sleep at night.
"This is a war crime that is happening on the eyeball of our political leadership."
Mr Soliman wants Australia to push Israel towards a political solution to the conflict.
"This is a crisis that needs a political solution. It will never be resolved by military intervention," he said.
"And Australia has got the capacity to find that political solution through their alliance and that's the best [we] can do for the humanity."
Mr Soliman, a Muslim originally from Egypt, said there was a lot of support for the Palestinian side in Canberra.
He said attendees to the prayer session came from across the community.
"People cannot stand seeing kids are dying," he said.
"People [in Gaza] cannot sleep, they cannot drink, they, they don't have food, they don't have any hospitals to treat them."
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Israel has said Hamas, which controls Gaza, has killed about 1400 people including children, and took more than 200 hostages.
Mr Soliman is organising another prayer session on Friday, which will start at 1pm outside Parliament House and move to the Israeli embassy.
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Lanie Tindale
I am City reporter at The Canberra Times. I previously covered health for the masthead, and was a trainee before that. I have written on courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. lanie.tindale@canberratimes.com.au.
I am City reporter at The Canberra Times. I previously covered health for the masthead, and was a trainee before that. I have written on courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. lanie.tindale@canberratimes.com.au.
