Almost 300 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7 including Australian Zomi Frankcom. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Australia has expressed alarm at escalating tensions in the Middle East as Hezbollah and Israel exchange rocket fire, while calling for greater aid worker protections.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is spearheading an international push at a United Nations summit for a declaration outlining steps to protect humanitarian workers in conflict zones after an emotional plea from the family of Zomi Frankcom.

Ms Frankcom was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, which has become the world’s most dangerous place for aid workers with almost 300 deaths since Israel began its nearly year-long counteroffensive after Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Israel’s defence force blamed the strike on mistaken identification and a breakdown in procedures, following the attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy which killed Ms Frankcom and her colleagues.

Ms Frankcom deserved the right to live after serving people “in the most desperate moments of their lives”, her family said in a statement supporting Australia’s push for a declaration.

“People like Zomi are rare and their bravery and selflessness should be not only celebrated but protected – they can’t be brave at any cost,” they said in a statement.

Ms Frankcom’s family supported Australia’s initiative to protect humanitarian aid workers, saying it was important her work wasn’t lost in the discussion as none of the killed humanitarian workers were simply “faceless, nameless aid workers”.

More than 280 aid workers were killed in 2023, the deadliest year on record which is expected to be surpassed in 2024 as conflicts rage in Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and Gaza.

Senator Wong will work with humanitarian organisations and the UN secretary general to present a declaration that outlines practical steps to protect aid workers in conflict while reaffirming humanitarian law in the coming months.

She convened ministerial counterparts and senior representatives from Switzerland, Jordan, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Japan, Brazil, Columbia, the United Kingdom, the Red Cross and the United Nations.

The killing of humanitarian workers was “a deeply alarming trend”, the foreign minister told reporters in New York on Tuesday (AEST) after the meeting.

She said “Australia felt this deeply” following Israel’s strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy and has pressed Israel to better protect civilians.

Oxfam Australia welcomed the announcement, saying there was a critical need to protect humanitarian workers.

The foreign minister also called for a de-escalation of conflict in the Middle East as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon ramped up.

About 500 people were killed, including dozens of children, and more than 1600 injured from the latest Israel missile barrage over the border, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Hospitals in the southern part of the country are almost at full capacity as Lebanon works on a mass causality plan, Health Minister Firass Abiad told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Israel said it targeted the designated terrorist organisation, including weapon stocks hidden in residential building.

A ground offensive into Lebanon was a possibility and a ceasefire and release of hostages by Hamas in Gaza was needed ahead of wider peace negotiations that would be “derailed” by more fighting, Mr Abiad said.

Senator Wong reiterated a call for Australians to leave Lebanon.

“We’re alarmed by the escalation and the loss of civilian life, both in Lebanon and also the attacks into Israel,” she said.

Australia was doing what it could to come up with a contingency plan to get people out of Lebanon but numbers were “beyond the capacity of the government to provide assistance to all”, she said.