Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (22:25): Liverpool is home to thousands of residents of Lebanese heritage. Many of them fled the civil war of the '70s and '80s, leaving behind family and loved ones and carrying the scars of conflict with them. The clear escalation of conflict in Lebanon over the past week has left many in my Liverpool electorate feeling anxious and concerned. The news that thousands of pagers and walkie‑talkie devices across Lebanon detonated, killing several and injuring thousands, marks a frightening turn in a conflict that has now waged for almost 12 months.

The immediate coverage that followed the attack was primarily focused on the level of sophistication required to carry out an operation of that nature. What was lost in that coverage was the significant human toll of the assault. Over the two waves of pager attacks, 42 fatalities have been reported, including at least 12 civilians. A nine-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and two healthcare workers were among them. Furthermore, the attack has injured thousands of civilians, with many losing fingers or eyes, and caused severe psychological harm to everyday people in Lebanon. The ABC reported that one mother in Lebanon turned off her baby monitor for fear that it may be the next device targeted.

The conflict has had a profound impact on people in my electorate. Many Lebanese Australians in Liverpool still have family in Lebanon and maintain strong ties with their ancestral homeland. Many in the Lebanese Australian community across Liverpool and south-western Sydney have been at the forefront of calling for an immediate ceasefire and for peace to endure. The recent events in Lebanon have put their loved ones in jeopardy. To say that those recent events have fuelled their anxiety would be putting it lightly. For many, there is now a constant scramble to stay updated on the safety of their loved ones.

Zena Chamas and Chantelle Al-Khouri of the ABC interviewed several members of the Lebanese diaspora community in Australia. They found that many were fearful for their families and loved ones. That concern is warranted. Since the pager attacks last week, airstrikes in Lebanon have reportedly killed over 500 people, with over 90 women and 50 children included in that toll, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Additionally, over 1,800 people have been injured and countless families displaced in the south of Lebanon. Adding to the stress of people in my community is a deep-seated fear about the safety of reaching out to loved ones, especially in light of the recent attacks on communication devices. Fatima Tabaja said, "It could be your neighbours. It could be the person that you're walking past in the street. It could be a doctor's pager. It could be anything." For many in Lebanon, especially in villages where internet and other communication devices are not as common, using pagers to communicate with loved ones is commonplace.

We are approaching one year of conflict in Gaza. It has been a confronting period, with shocking images of dead children and flattened cities following airstrikes that have been beamed straight to our phones via social media. We have seen schools, hospitals and humanitarian camps in Gaza flattened. We have heard shocking allegations of detainees being subjected to torture and sexual abuse at military facilities. In the face of growing international condemnation and pressure, Israel has doubled down and continued its incursions into Gaza and has now potentially begun a parallel war in southern Lebanon, putting thousands of lives in jeopardy and risking the destabilisation of the entire region.

Despite assurances that Israel's war is with Hezbollah and not the Lebanese people, it remains clear that the average citizen is bearing the brunt of the impact of the war. As the international community, we must come together to say enough—enough death, enough suffering and enough loss. An urgent ceasefire and de-escalation of the situation is needed to ensure that Lebanon does not experience the protracted suffering and death experienced in places like Gaza and Ukraine. That is required to ensure that our community does not continue to experience its current anxiety and concern.