(Ottawa) Canada has joined an overwhelming majority of United Nations member countries in voting for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.
The non-binding resolution was adopted Tuesday afternoon at the United Nations General Assembly, with 153 votes in favor, 10 against – including Israel and the United States – and 23 abstentions, out of a total of 193 member states.
The result reflects a division within the G7: among the other countries in the club to which Canada and the United States belong, France and Japan supported the resolution, while the United Kingdom and Germany abstained.
“We must recognize that what is unfolding before our eyes will only reinforce the cycle of violence. This will not lead to the defeat of Hamas, which is necessary, and the threat it poses to Israel,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly explained at a press briefing.
Canada had telegraphed its intentions a few hours earlier: for the first time since the start of the war, Justin Trudeau used the term “ceasefire” in a joint declaration with his counterparts from Australia and New York. Zeeland.
Upon his arrival at the House of Commons for question period, the Prime Minister said he had a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu – a “very long conversation”, he stressed, “ on Canada’s position.
It must be said that the leader of the Jewish state turned his back when the Prime Minister of Canada launched a call for restraint, about a month ago. “The forces of civilization must support Israel to defeat the barbarity of Hamas,” he thundered on X for Justin Trudeau.
The Israeli embassy in Ottawa did not react to the UN verdict. “A ceasefire will only encourage more cycles of violence,” we warned on X a few hours before the General Assembly made its decision.
Israel losing support
Ottawa’s change of course “comes at the right time”, and it “probably reflects more what Canadians want to see”, analyzes François Audet, director of the Canadian Observatory on Humanitarian Crises and Action at UQAM .
However, it comes “perhaps too late”, he adds. According to the specialist, one factor is perhaps, at least partially, at the origin of the “delay” in the toughening of the tone: Canada had to extirpate its nationals who were caught in the Gaza Strip.
If, ultimately, the United States remains the masters of the game, the Jewish state is nevertheless beginning to have difficulty justifying “its almost indiscriminate bombings on Gaza”, because “each day that passes is a day too many for the population of Gaza , who is being massacred,” said Mr. Audet.
Canada’s vote at the United Nations was welcomed by a group of humanitarian organizations. “Without such a ceasefire, it is impossible for us to rescue, treat and save lives,” said Nadja Pollaert, executive director of Médecins du monde Canada.
“It is now a matter of making this resolution tangible as quickly as possible for the population of Gaza who are experiencing agony,” added Béatrice Vaugrante, general director of Oxfam-Québec.
Divergent reactions
The same vote inspired “disgust” at the Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations (CIJA), where it was judged that this posture “will undoubtedly lead to a resurgence of hatred against Jews here in Canada” .
“The Jewish community of Canada will not forget that, in the face of unprecedented anti-Semitism, reinforced by the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas, the Canadian government chose to ignore not only Israel’s right to defend itself, but also Israel’s obligation to defend itself,” it was denounced.
Conversely, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, was delighted. “Beyond the sometimes childish issues of the Parliament of Canada, this vote deserves to be welcomed, even if late. It should be seen neither as anti-Israel, nor an endorsement of Hamas, but a call for peace,” he wrote on X.
The Conservative Party, for its part, calls for “an immediate end to the conflict by asking Hamas to return the hostages and all weapons and to surrender unconditionally,” a spokesperson for the party reported in an email.
As for NDP MP Heather McPherson, she argued that it was “high time for the Liberals to call for a cease-fire”, and that Tuesday’s vote at the United Nations must be “followed by meaningful action “.
The attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 left more than 1,200 dead on the Israeli side. In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas Ministry of Health puts the death toll at more than 18,000 Palestinian deaths, according to figures published by Agence France-Presse.