Exactly one month after the start of the Hamas attack on Israel and a death toll of 10,000 Palestinians since the start of the conflict, new voices are rising in Ottawa, once again calling on the Trudeau government to call for a ceasefire. -fire.
“We need a ceasefire now with unhindered humanitarian access,” demanded Béatrice Vaugrante, executive director of Oxfam-Québec in Ottawa Tuesday morning. She was accompanied by four other representatives of humanitarian organizations, who also asked the Canadian government to toughen its tone towards the Israeli government.
“We, the humanitarians, cannot sit idly by. We are together today to say that enough is enough, it is unacceptable to continue like this,” lamented Ms. Vaugrante. On Tuesday night, Israeli bombardments against the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas continued unabated, killing more than 100 people.
Despite pressure from several dozen federal MPs openly in favor of a ceasefire, the Trudeau government instead called for “humanitarian pauses” to bring aid into the Gaza Strip. The Prime Minister often reiterates, in his statements, “that Israel has the right to defend itself”.
According to a new Angus Reid poll, a majority of Canadians (65%) believe a ceasefire should be announced, while one in five (19%) are not in favor. Four in five respondents (78%) say Israel has the right to exist and defend itself, but Canadians are also more likely to say the Israeli response has been too harsh (45%) than otherwise (36%).
The UN, NGOs, leaders of the Arab world and other countries continue to call for a ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, rejected this request. “There will be no ceasefire in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an interview with the American channel ABC News on Monday evening.
“Remain spectators”
On Tuesday, the Canadian government confirmed that 59 Canadians, permanent residents and their eligible family members crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday. Global Affairs Canada also claims that four Canadian citizens crossed the Rafah border thanks to a third party.
These evacuations are, however, insufficient for the five representatives present in Ottawa Tuesday morning. “Attention has been focused on the few trucks that came in, but that seems futile when the bombs continue to kill so many people. Our teams on the ground risk their lives every day, under siege and under fire, but they continue to work tirelessly to save lives,” responded Usama Khan, CEO of the NGO Islamic Relief Worldwide.
“We cannot remain spectators of this atrocity, even though the government has called for a humanitarian pause. It’s simply not enough. A pause will not end the suffering of civilians in Gaza, and it certainly will not reduce the destruction and death that will inevitably follow once it is lifted. We need to see an immediate and permanent ceasefire,” he continued.
A petition addressed to the Prime Minister demanding that Canada call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict now has more than 172,000 signatures.
Prime Minister Trudeau made a brief statement Tuesday before entering question period in the House. “It is good news that there are dozens of Canadians and Canadian families who have been able to exit through the Rafah Gate, but there is much work still to be done to rescue all Canadians, the hundreds and their families and we will continue to work every day to do it,” he said. He did not comment again on humanitarian pauses.