Palestinian leaders in Australia fear national security is being weaponised for political gain at the expense of people trying to leave Gaza.

A political storm has raged for weeks over the vetting process for people fleeing the war zone.

The skirmish started after ASIO boss Mike Burgess suggested people who expressed rhetorical support for Hamas, but did not support extremist ideology, would not necessarily be barred from entering Australia.

The federal opposition immediately seized on his remarks, calling for a temporary ban on Palestinians seeking Australian visas and challenging the robustness of security checks.

Mr Burgess said his comments on the vetting process had been misrepresented.

“I’ve watched with interest over the last couple of weeks how people have chosen to distort what I said,” he told the ABC.

“I said that if you support a Palestinian homeland that may not discount you (from entering Australia) because that by itself is not a problem.

“But I also said if you have a violent extremist ideology, or you provide material or financial support to a terrorist organisation, that will be a problem.”

Explicit support for Hamas would always trigger an adverse security assessment by ASIO, the director-general said.

Visa applications were checked against a global watch list and ASIO officers considered cases referred to them by Home Affairs.

ASIO was constantly investigating threats to security, Mr Burgess said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton welcomed the “clarification” from the ASIO boss.

He demanded Labor apologise to Mr Burgess for putting him “in a difficult position” by granting visitor visas to people fleeing war.

At least 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel declared war on Hamas following the terrorist organisation’s October 7 attacks.

Australia has issued visas to more than 2900 Palestinians since the war began. Another 7000 applications have been refused.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused the coalition of undermining ASIO.

Nasser Mashni, from the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, said the visa debate had been reduced to “cheap politics”.

“It’s an indictment upon this country that it has chosen to demonise these people, rather than offer them the care and compassion that has been so rightly afforded to other people fleeing conflict zones,” he told AAP.

Jana Favero, from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the tone of debate was dangerous.

“Our political leaders have a clear role to play in showing the compassion and humanity that is needed to ensure people fleeing war and devastation can find the safety and peace they deserve here,” she said.

This post was originally published on Michael West.