(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still rules out the possibility of Canada calling for a complete ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, but he calls the agreement to temporarily suspend hostilities this week as progress that Hamas can free hostages.
“I continue to call for the need for lasting peace in the region, including a two-state solution,” Mr. Trudeau said at a press conference in Newfoundland. We have been calling for a significant humanitarian pause for weeks. This is progress that we have made at this time. But there are still many other steps we will need to take together. »
Hamas, which Canada considers a terrorist organization, on Friday released 24 hostages held for seven weeks – 13 Israeli women and children, 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines.
PHOTO RONEN ZVULUN, REUTERS
Hostages released under a deal between Israel and Hamas arrive by helicopter at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel.
For its part, Israel confirmed on Friday the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners, in accordance with the truce agreement.
PHOTO AHMAD GHARABLI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Hanin Barghouti, a Palestinian prisoner held in an Israeli prison, has been released.
The hostages were all captured on October 7 during Hamas attacks on Israel, which left around 1,200 people dead on the Israeli side, including hundreds of civilians.
A Global Affairs Canada official confirmed this week before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that a Canadian woman was still missing.
The pause in fighting provides a respite for the millions of people displaced or injured in Israel’s retaliatory campaign in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Local health authorities, under Hamas, say 13,300 Palestinians have been killed and another 6,000 people are missing.
Mr. Trudeau did not specify Friday why he still did not support a ceasefire. Last month, Defense Minister Bill Blair said he did not expect Hamas to honor a ceasefire. He believed on October 24 that this organization must “be eliminated as a threat not only to Israel, but to the world.”
On Parliament Hill, pro-Palestinian groups continue to call for a ceasefire, arguing that time is needed to build housing for the 1.7 million people who, according to the United Nations, have been displaced to Gaza.
“Not enough four days”
Fahamia Koudra, board member of Human Concern International, said her colleagues in the region had seen an increase in deaths from dehydration and deaths that could have been avoided through vaccination. . “Winter is coming and there are no sanitation facilities or water,” she said at a press conference Friday morning.
“A four-day break is not even enough to remove the bodies from the rubble,” she said. Without a ceasefire, casualties will increase exponentially, without desperately needed supplies and (with) infrastructure destroyed. »
On Thursday, at a press conference on Parliament Hill, Hany Elbatnigi, an Ottawa resident, recounted horrific scenes in Gaza, which he left on November 7. “I won the lottery of life. I was one of the lucky ones to go safely to Cairo,” he said.
I left behind the smell of death, the horrible sounds of explosions and the sight of dogs eating the flesh of corpses.
Hany Elbatnigi
Mr. Elbatnigi said his relatives left the family home when Israeli military airstrikes bombarded his neighborhood. They stayed in houses filled with dozens of people for days, moving slowly south toward the Egyptian border.
He said 71 members of his extended family were killed in Gaza, and he learned Wednesday that his niece and two children were dead. “Several were barely bigger than my height,” he said.
Mr. Elbatnigi deplored Canada’s clear support for Israel during its war and the lack of transparency from consular officials. “Very little information has been provided and even less help,” he said. Instead, there were numerous public statements that Canada supported Israeli attacks, while my family and I remained in danger. »