(Ottawa) Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, arrived in Israel Friday morning to observe the situation on the ground and reaffirm “Canada’s support for Israel and its right to defend itself in accordance with international law.”
During her stay in the region, the head of Canadian diplomacy met notably with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Eli Cohen, and the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riyad al-Maliki. She is also expected to meet with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Al Safadi.
Stops are planned at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the office in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Minister Joly will also visit Jordan, as well as the Athens airport in Greece, where Canadian nationals landed after being evacuated from Tel Aviv by military aircraft.
Throughout her trip, she will “reaffirm Canada’s support for Israel and its right to defend itself in accordance with international law”, in addition to discussing “the repercussions of the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel and the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation,” according to his office.
Mélanie Joly’s visit to the region comes after those of her American counterparts, Antony Blinken, and British counterparts, James Cleverly. The latter was forced to quickly take refuge in a shelter during his visit to Israel, the air raid warning sirens having started to sound.
“My priority is to meet with my partners and directly observe developments on the ground so that Canada can provide the most needed assistance at this critical time,” said Ms.me Joly in a press release.
“Canada is shocked and saddened by the events that unfolded last week. My thoughts are with all civilians affected by the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, which also affected communities in Canada and around the world,” she added.