Foreign Minister Penny Wong has firmly rejected threats made by an Israeli government minister regarding Lebanon's capital, describing the remarks as indefensible amid a sprawling evacuation crisis affecting over 115,000 Australians stranded across the Middle East.
When asked about comments from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatening to reduce Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh to a state resembling Gaza, Wong told reporters the statements were "completely unacceptable". She noted that the Israeli ambassador had clarified those comments do not reflect the government's position.
Smotrich has threatened to turn the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital into another Gaza Strip, warning that the Dahiyeh area would soon look "like Khan Younis", a city in southern Gaza that has been decimated in Israel's war against Palestinians. The area is home to more than 400,000 people.
The minister's rejection comes as Australia confronts what she has called an unprecedented consular emergency. Wong revealed there are 115,000 Australians in the region, with at least 24,000 located in Dubai. More than 200 Australians arrived home on the first commercial flight out of Dubai since war broke out between the US, Israel and Iran on Saturday, with Flight EK414 landing just before 10:30pm and representing one of 60 commercial flights arranged by the United Arab Emirates.
The human cost of the standstill was evident at Sydney Airport. One passenger, Youssef Mardoud, reunited with his mother who had been travelling to Lebanon to see her grandfather with cancer, expressed his terror and desperation during the ordeal. Charity worker Hawra Khalil, who had been in Lebanon on a humanitarian trip feeding war-torn children, said the experience of being caught in Dubai gave her a glimpse of conditions Lebanese citizens face daily, multiplied ten-fold.
The government is pursuing commercial aviation as its preferred option to repatriate Australians, but progress depends on airlines resuming operations after Iranian and Israeli airspace closures disrupted global flight networks. A limited number of airlines have resumed operations for stuck travellers, with Wong stressing commercial flights were the best avenue to leave the region, as that volume of traffic will really need to see commercial flights resume, even if only sporadically, to get people home.
Political pressure mounted over the government's initial response time. Critics from the opposition argue the administration moved too slowly, noting that while diplomats' dependents were evacuated on February 25, recognising grave risk, the government waited three more days—and 100 ballistic missiles later—before issuing a "Do Not Travel" warning for the general public. Under mounting pressure, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the Australian Defence Force has deployed two heavy-lift military aircraft to the region as part of contingency planning.
The strategic context matters here. The Middle East conflict has created a genuine policy dilemma: moving 115,000 people requires scale that only commercial aviation can provide, yet airspace closures make scheduling impossible to predict. The government's approach represents a pragmatic bet that commercial flight networks will stabilise faster than military-led evacuation can operate at equivalent scale. Whether that proves correct depends on events beyond Australia's control.
Wong's condemnation of Smotrich's comments also reflects a tension in Australia's Middle East positioning. The government has sanctioned Israeli officials whilst maintaining security partnerships with the US in the region. Rejecting inflammatory rhetoric from any faction keeps diplomatic channels open while signalling support for international law and civilian protection—positions that Australia's government believes serve the national interest more effectively than choosing sides entirely.