The situation in the Gaza Strip is 91Ƶheartbreaking,91Ƶ Canada91Ƶs deputy prime minister said Wednesday, the day after Israel91Ƶs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for urging Israel to stop 91Ƶthe killing of women and children, of babies91Ƶ inthe besieged Palestinian territory.
91ƵI think everyone would agree that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is heartbreaking. It91Ƶs really difficult to see the images of what91Ƶs happening,91Ƶ Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Wednesday in Mascouche, Que.
Freeland, who is also the federal finance minister, had been asked to respond to Netanyahu calling out Trudeau on Tuesday evening. His comments on social media came hours after Trudeau urged Israel91Ƶs government to 91Ƶexercise maximum restraint91Ƶ in its war against Hamas, which has included regular airstrikes in Gaza.
91ƵI have been clear that the price of justice cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians. Even wars have rules,91Ƶ Trudeau said Tuesday in Vancouver.
91ƵWe91Ƶre hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents,91Ƶ said Trudeau. 91ƵThe world is witnessing this. The killing of women and children, of babies.91Ƶ
Israel began its latest war against Hamas, which Canada has listed as a terrorist entity since 2002, after its militants killed 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7. That included hundreds of civilians in their homes, in collective farming communities known as kibbutzim and at an outdoor music festival. Another 240 people were taken hostage.
Israel91Ƶs retaliation has included airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, as well as cutting off access to supplies in the territory, which had already been under a years-long blockade by both Israel and Egypt.
On Wednesday, two more people with ties to Canada made it out of Gaza. Global Affairs Canada says it has helped 358 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their relatives exit the war-torn territory, while another nine have managed to reach Egypt by other means.
Ottawa says another 386 people connected to Canada are trying to get out of Gaza.
The 2.3 million people who live in the territory are struggling to survive without electricity or running water and are rationing food. The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory says the war has now killed more than 11,200 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.
Trudeau91Ƶs comments prompted a strong response from Netanyahu on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.
91ƵWhile Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm91Ƶs way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm91Ƶs way,91Ƶ he wrote Tuesday evening.
91ƵIt is Hamas, not Israel, that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime 91Ƶ targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians.91Ƶ
On Wednesday, Yair Lapid, the opposition leader in Israel, also criticized Trudeau for his remarks.
91ƵPrime Minister Trudeau, Israel is defending itself in difficult conditions against a brutal terrorist organization while trying to rescue babies, children, women and men who are being held hostage,91Ƶ Lapid wrote on X.
91ƵIf Canada ever found itself under a sustained and brutal attack like the one we face now, you would find Israel by your side,91Ƶ he added. 91ƵWe expect the same support.91Ƶ
University of Ottawa professor Costanza Musu said Netanyahu91Ƶs criticism of Trudeau seemed to echo remarks he91Ƶd directed to other leaders who have been critical of Israel91Ƶs military actions.
For example, French President Emmanuel Macron has criticized Israel for the killing of babies and elderly people in Gaza, which Netanyahu said was factually and morally wrong.
91ƵAny kind of criticism that comes his way is rebuked equally,91Ƶ said Musu, who specializes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
91ƵIt would be directed at any leader that were to suggest that Israel is responsible entirely for what91Ƶs happening now.91Ƶ
Trudeau had referred specifically to the Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, as Israeli troops surrounded the facility and it ran out of fuel.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops stormed into the hospital, searching for traces of Hamas inside and beneath the facility. Israel faced pressure to prove its claim that Hamas had turned the hospital into a command centre and used patients, staff and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for its militants. Israel released video late Wednesday of weapons it said it found in one building, but so far its search showed no signs of tunnels or a sophisticated command centre, and Hamas and Gaza health officials deny that militants operate there.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Trudeau had also said that Hamas needs to stop using Palestinians as human shields and release all hostages 91Ƶimmediately and unconditionally.91Ƶ
He pushed for the violence to end 91Ƶso that Palestinians can get access to life-saving medical services, food, fuel and water, so that all hostages can be released, so that all Canadians and other nationals can leave Gaza.91Ƶ
Musu said criticism of Israel91Ƶs actions around the hospital would be particularly sensitive to Netanyahu91Ƶs government, given Israel91Ƶs assertion that it is important to Hamas.
She said the Israeli government is aware that military operations near a hospital will be controversial, but from its point of view, targeting what it believes is Hamas infrastructure is the only way to prevent terrorist attacks on its own citizens.
91ƵThe government of Israel is in a situation in which it views the operation in Gaza as something that not only cannot be avoided, but also cannot be stopped,91Ƶ Musu said.
She noted that Netanyahu is facing 91Ƶa huge amount of pressure91Ƶ because of the security failure of the Hamas attack, particularly from the families of hostages who are still in captivity.
On Wednesday, New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh said Trudeau was being fair in what he said about Israel.
91ƵThere should obviously be a full respect for international law and there are deep concerns about that not being followed, and so that91Ƶs a fair criticism,91Ƶ he told reporters in Toronto on Wednesday.
Singh also repeated his demands that Trudeau call for a ceasefire, arguing that it would boost Canada91Ƶs credibility on the world stage.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre91Ƶs office has not responded to an interview request. But deputy leader Melissa Lantsman decried Singh91Ƶs comments as 91Ƶdisgusting91Ƶ in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
Former Liberal MP Michael Levitt, who now leads a Jewish rights group called the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, did not weigh in on Netanyahu91Ƶs comments.
But he wrote on X that Trudeau91Ƶs remarks were 91Ƶreckless accusations91Ƶ that didn91Ƶt accurately portray what Israel is trying to do in the Gaza Strip.
91ƵJews like me, reeling from weeks of surging antisemitism, got the message loud and clear, and will worry that they have the potential to further fan the flames of Jew-hatred that we are facing,91Ƶ Levitt wrote.
Trudeau has faced increased pressure domestically from the National Council of Canadian Muslims, refugee settlement agencies and MPs 91Ƶ including some Liberals 91Ƶ to call for a ceasefire, in a bid to safely evacuate civilians and deliver humanitarian aid.
Instead, Trudeau has called for 91Ƶa sustained humanitarian pause91Ƶ in the bombardments. Israeli officials say a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to prepare more attacks.
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