(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Friday that Canada remains “firm and unwavering” in its commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He said the Middle East and the world need both a Palestinian state and a state of Israel that coexist in peace, security and prosperity.
Canada has long called for a negotiated two-state solution in the region. Ottawa still considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be territories occupied by Israel.
While in Brampton, Ontario, on Friday morning, Mr. Trudeau reiterated this position, in the context of the most recent conflict in the Middle East. This war began after militants from Hamas, which Canada considers a terrorist organization, killed 1,400 Israelis in a surprise attack on October 7.
Israel responded with airstrikes in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and also cut off the Palestinian territory’s access to water, food and electricity.
Mr. Trudeau, who affirms that Israel is “fully justified in defending itself, in accordance with international law”, does not specify what fate Canada would like for Gaza once Israel has completed its military operations.
“We will of course continue to deal with things as they arise and we will have those conversations when the time comes,” he said Friday.
“But Canada remains firm and unwavering in its commitment to a two-state solution. The world and the region need a peaceful, secure, prosperous and viable Palestinian state, alongside a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and secure Israeli state. »
Mr. Trudeau also indicated that Canada was working at a diplomatic level with all its allies in the region “to try to protect civilian life, to try to protect people who are innocent in Gaza.”
“I spoke to the Prime Minister of Israel, to President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. I spoke to the king of Jordan, Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, President al-Sisi of Egypt,” he said.
This new conflict in the Middle East is in its 14the day and the Associated Press reports that Israeli airstrikes are targeting southern Gaza, an area populated by civilians who have fled the north of the territory, as requested by Israeli authorities.
The Secretary General of the United Nations is at the Rafah border crossing, between Egypt and Gaza, to try to find a way to deliver the humanitarian aid waiting at the gates of the territory.
Israel, for its part, is evacuating a region near the border with Lebanon, in the north of the country, for fear of clashes with Lebanese Hezbollah.