Australian PM criticises opposition leader for 'stirring fear' over Palestinian visas

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday once again rejected opposition's call to ban Palestinians fleeing Gaza from entering Australia, saying it aims to "whip up fear".

Opposition leader Peter Dutton had called for a stop to migration from the besieged Palestinian coastal enclave, contending the arrival of people from a war zone to Australia was “putting national security at risk.”

Albanese, who has already criticized Dutton for his calls, said the rhetoric from the coalition is causing community division at a time when security heads were calling for "social cohesion," local broadcaster SBS News reported.

"What does Peter Dutton do? He doesn't talk about issues of concern to Australians, what he does is try and whip up fear," Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

"The fact is that the borders at the moment are closed, of course, through the Rafah crossing," he was quoted as saying.

So far, some 2, 922 visas to fleeing Palestinians have been approved, of them 1,300 have arrived "safely" in Australia, Department of Home Affairs figures showed.

Whereas, the data showed, 7,100 visas from Palestinian territories have been rejected.

Dutton on Sunday repeated calls for visa ban until security vetting processes could be "guaranteed."

"We cannot tell who's who, unless thorough background checks are done," he said in an opinion piece published on Sunday.

Dutton's comments have invited criticism from Labor, the Greens, some crossbenchers, and Palestinian groups.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed nearly 40,100 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,500, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation.