Palestinian, Israeli advocates in Ottawa reject temporary pauses in Gaza fight
A temporary respite from Israel-Hamas hostilities should not be Canada's focus, Israeli and Palestinian advocates argued separately on Parliament Hill Monday, even as the Canadian government continued to push for "humanitarian pauses."
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a Monday speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto that a humanitarian agreement is urgently needed to help people in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.
Israel declared war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and 222 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.
Israel responded with force, showering Gaza with rockets and in recent days launching a ground offensive. More than 8,300 Palestinians have been killed in the days since, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, and it says most of them are women and children.
Joly reiterated Canada's unequivocal condemnation of Hamas, which it deems a terrorist group, for the attacks. She said Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism "in accordance with international law."
The fact Canada has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire has drawn condemnation from some.
"Is that what civilians deserve, who have done nothing wrong, to take a coffee break before jumping right back into being butchered?" said Justice For All Canada advocate Ahmad Al-Qadi during a Monday press conference.
"Instead of standing against the violence, (Canadian MPs) have given carte blanche for Israel to do as it pleases," he told reporters.
Al-Qadi said a ceasefire is needed now.
Irwin Cotler, a longtime human-rights activist and a former Liberal attorney general, said Hamas has violated past humanitarian pauses.
"What Israelis have learned is that these pauses only end up working to abduct other hostages," Cotler said.
He said Canada should focus its efforts on building a multi-country coalition to pressure Hamas to release all hostages through any means possible. He said this would echo coalitions against the so-called Islamic State group, and might even include a military aspect.
Israel's ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said that Israel would like to deliver more humanitarian aid but his country is hampered by the actions of Hamas, which he said often diverts supplies and money meant for civilians.
"Humanitarian pauses are a luxury if you're comparing to the condition of the hostages," Moed said.
In her speech, Joly urged Hamas to release more than 200 hostages held in Gaza, which she said may include two Canadians who are still missing. Hamas has let four hostages go to date.
Israeli-Canadian dual national Vivian Silver may be among the hostages. Her son, Chen Zeigen, said Monday releasing hostages needs to be higher on the world's priority list. Silver, 74, went missing from her home on Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza border which was raided by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
"Hamas is trying to frame the hostages as prisoners of war. But these are babies and toddlers and women and elderly people, taken from their homes," Zeigen said on Monday.
"They have not had any access to ... the Red Cross. We have not been given any information about their fate."
Zeigen was speaking at a press conference facilitated by the Israeli government. It included people related to Israelis who were either killed by Hamas or suspected of being taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Zeigen said he's been in frequent contact with the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv about his mother, although Ottawa has not confirmed the identities of the two Canadians it suspects are being held hostage by Hamas.
Aharon Brodutch, an Israeli immigrant to Canada who now lives in Toronto, flipped through laminated photos of the four relatives he said Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7.
"We thought that this would never happen again. But this has happened. We have experienced a day of a second Holocaust," Brodutch told reporters.
He called on Muslims to denounce a group that has taken civilians as hostages.
"We have big Muslim communities in Canada who are seeing this, and I'm sure many of them are horrified by what has happened. I would like to see the Canadian Muslim community -- which I'm sure can indirectly impact Hamas -- fight for Muslim values."
Israeli tanks and troops were pushing deeper into Gaza on Monday, where conditions for civilians are deteriorating as food, medicine and fuel run dangerously low.
The siege has pushed Gaza's infrastructure nearly to collapse. With no central power for weeks and little fuel, hospitals are struggling to keep emergency generators running.
On Saturday, crowds of people broke into four United Nations facilities and took food supplies in what the UN said was a sign that civil order was starting to break down amid increasing desperation.
Joly said in her speech that the Canadian government has an obligation to help its citizens get out of the territory. Global Affairs Canada said that as of Monday, it is in contact with 460 Canadians, permanent residents and family members in the territory.
On Sunday, 33 trucks of humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Relief workers say the amount is still far less than what is needed for the population of 2.3 million people.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel said its warplanes carried out airstrikes Monday against militants clashing with its forces in the Jenin refugee camp, the scene of repeated Israeli raids. Hamas said four of its fighters were killed there.
As of Sunday, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 123 Palestinians, including 33 minors, in the West Bank, half of them during search-and-arrest operations, the UN said.
"The humanitarian situation facing the Palestinian people -- facing Palestinian women and children -- is dire. Extremist settlers' attacks continue in the West Bank," Joly said in her speech.
Global Affairs Canada said it has helped 65 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and eligible family members leave the West Bank since the conflict began, and it is in touch with 70 people who are still there.
The Canadian Armed Forces confirmed on Monday that it has sent special forces to Canada's embassy in Tel Aviv after Global Affairs Canada requested military support to help prepare for the possible escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.
The fears of a broader conflict have been exacerbated by clashes at the Israeli-Lebanese border, which officials say might lead to the need for an evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon.
Joly said that as the region faces this precarious moment, there is also a need to look forward to the future, supporting a two-state solution.
She said the world faces a generational challenge to prevent a global conflict and Canada has an important role to play in building a stable, inclusive world.
That includes what she called "pragmatic diplomacy," even with countries with whom we do not agree.
"As respect for the rules diminishes, empty chairs serve no one. Let me be clear: I am door opener, not a door closer," she said. "Therefore, with rare exceptions, Canada will engage."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.
With files from The Associated Press.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.
Local Spotlight
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.