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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to answer questions about the demands from the International Criminal Court's (ICC) top prosecutor for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel's prime minister and the leadership of Hamas.
Overnight ICC prosecutor Karim Khan KC made the applications in The Hague, arguing there were reasonable grounds to allege Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence Minister Yoav Gallant were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.
Mr Khan also targeted Hamas' senior leaders, alleging Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri should also be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.
Mr Netanyahu quickly rejected the claim "with disgust", disputing any comparison between the actions of Israel and those of Hamas.
US President Joe Biden dismissed arguments that what was happening in Gaza was "genocide", but Mr Albanese was not prepared to comment on the developments at the ICC.
"I don't comment on court processes in Australia, let alone court processes globally, that which Australia is not a party," he responded to questions in Sydney.
"What we need to concentrate on, when it comes to the Middle East, is what we have been saying from the time that on October 7, the terrorist atrocity committed by Hamas, we oppose that.
"We have called for the release of hostages, we have called for a humanitarian ceasefire, we have called for increased humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.
"We have said that every life matters, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian, and we've called for progress towards a two-state solution."
Mr Albanese did comment on the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the very next question, after the Australian man won a last-ditch bid in London to appeal against extradition to the United States.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it was "completely and utterly repugnant" to compare the actions of Mr Netanyahu with that of Hamas' leadership, and called on Mr Albanese to take a stronger position.
"The prime minister squibbed it today," Mr Dutton said.
"I don't know why the prime minister is not showing leadership at the moment, and he's tarnishing and damaging our international relationships with like-minded nations when he is not strong enough to stand up alongside President Biden.
"In relation to the ICC, it's an abomination, and it needs to be ceased. This action is anti-Semitic and it's against the interests of peace in the Middle East."
In turn, Labor cabinet minister Chris Bowen labelled Mr Dutton's comments "irresponsible" on Sky News.
"Australia respects the ICC and the important role it has in upholding international law," the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
"The decision on whether to issue arrest warrants is a matter for the court in the independent exercise of its functions. It is not appropriate to comment on matters before the court.
"There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It is proscribed as such in Australia.
"Australia has been clear and unequivocal in our condemnation of its terrorist actions."
Sharma questions Australia's ongoing support for International Criminal Court
Australia's former ambassador to Israel, current Liberal senator Dave Sharma, suggested the prosecutor's request for arrest warrants harmed the reputation of the ICC.
"I think the International Criminal Court has absolutely overreached here and they're at risk of undermining their own credibility and seriousness as an international organisation," Senator Sharma told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing from Tel Aviv.
"It's so incomprehensible it defies credibility, it defies seriousness, and I think they've done a huge damage to their own reputation as a serious international judicial body by doing just this."
Australia is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court more than two decades ago.
The United States signed the statute but later told the United Nations it had no intention of ratifying the treaty.
"We should be stressing to our partners on the ICC and the ICC organ itself how seriously damaging this will be to the ICC's credibility if the court — and bear in mind that a panel of judges now has to decide upon this request — if the court grants this prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant," Senator Sharma said.
"I think it's going to be cataclysmic."
He argued the ICC had been "gradually losing support over the last decade or two" and said countries like Australia could "rethink our participation and that level of support and contribution to it".
Former prime minister Scott Morrison also weighed in, labelling the ICC as having "surrendered its legitimacy in creating a moral equivalence between terrorists and a nation, in Israel, acting in self defence."
"The ICC has defined the victim as the perpetrator. That is not justice," he posted on X.
'Every likelihood' warrants could be issued
Don Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said he expected the arrest warrants would be issued, given the amount of evidence Mr Khan's team would have had to compile before making its request.
"This has been a matter that's been flagged well in advance, and indeed the ICC prosecutor has been investing a lot of resources into this situation for some period of time," he told Afternoon Briefing.
"So I think there's every likelihood that this will go forward, but the ICC can adjust and modify the arrest warrant when it's ultimately issued.
"The ICC prosecutor has, in a very public display, made very clear what they are doing in terms of making this request of the actual court itself, and that to my mind is a rather extraordinary step on this particular occasion.
"But it's consistent with the way in which the prosecutor has sought to bring a lot of transparency to their work because, of course, it's a very high-profile dispute."
He noted that if warrants were issued, Australia and other parties to the Rome Statute would be obliged to assist with efforts to arrest those named, in the same way they were obligated to detain Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also subject to an ICC warrant.
Professor Rothwell said arguments such as those made by Senator Sharma that Australia should express its disapproval to the court and other countries would be misguided.
"Any such arguments would be ones which would interfere with the independence of the prosecutor, the International Criminal Court, and ultimately the independence of the court," he said.
"So I really don't see that there's any real foundation for those sort of arguments being made, which would ultimately impact upon the integrity of the decision-making of the prosecutor and also the court."