After refraining from taking a position in favor of a ceasefire for more than two months, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally appears to express, for the very first time, his support for a “lasting ceasefire » in Gaza.
“ […] We support the urgent efforts of the international community to achieve a lasting ceasefire. This ceasefire cannot be unilateral,” reads a joint statement from Mr. Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Australia and the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
“We remain deeply concerned by the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the continued risks faced by all Palestinian civilians. Safe and unhindered access to humanitarian aid must be increased and maintained,” the letter sent Tuesday also reads.
The terminology used in the joint statement from the trio of leaders, however, raises eyebrows in Ottawa.
“We feel that the Liberal government, Mr. Trudeau and Mr.me [Mélanie] Joly, are in hot water. They are doing a kind of stylistic exercise with their language,” reprimanded NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice.
“There is a sort of consensus from the international community. The majority of countries in the world are calling for a ceasefire. […] There, we arrive with new terminology and we ask ourselves what does it mean? Isn’t that a loophole, a red herring? », he added at a press briefing.
In a statement lasting about twenty seconds, the Prime Minister, however, did not use the term “ceasefire” before entering the question period on Tuesday — barely 1 hour 30 minutes after the statement was published. . He also did not respond to journalists’ questions.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, for his part pleaded in favor of an international military presence in the region. “ […] It’s nice to say ceasefire, it fits very well in a conversation, except that if there is no way to implement it, it makes no sense,” he said. -he advanced to a press briefing.
The statement from the trio of leaders comes as the Israeli army continues its offensive against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip. Since the expiration of the seven-day truce, the army has tightened its grip on the territory. According to a UN official, the civilian population is experiencing “hell on earth”.
A long-awaited request
Ottawa’s tone towards the Israeli government had been gradually rising over the last month, but Justin Trudeau had always opted for terms like a “humanitarian pause”, or even “lasting peace” in the Gaza Strip.
Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister still ruled out the possibility of Canada calling for a ceasefire. “I continue to call for the need for lasting peace in the region, including a two-state solution,” Mr. Trudeau declared at a press conference in Newfoundland.
The prime minister has been under heavy pressure since the start of the conflict to demand a complete end to hostilities. The Bloc Québécois, the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Green Party of Canada and more than thirty Liberal MPs have publicly declared themselves in favor of a ceasefire for many weeks.
In interview at Duty last week, the MP for Scarborough Centre, the Liberal Salma Zahid, who chairs the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, affirmed that “support for a call for a ceasefire is increasing in the House of Commons” . The latter had also sent two letters to the Prime Minister to ask for his support.
A parliamentary petition sponsored by NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice has collected more than 286,700 signatures — making it the most supported online petition in the history of Parliament. The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose further on Tuesday, with 18,412 people killed, the vast majority women and children. In Israel, the attack left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians.
With Boris Proulx