Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war to allow for the release of all Jewish hostages and for the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Gaza.
“I don’t need to describe the horrors. This is why we are calling for a significant humanitarian pause that will allow us to release all the Jewish hostages and … continue to evacuate foreign citizens from Gaza,” Justin Trudeau said.
“This pause must allow the delivery of real and substantial aid, enough aid to relieve this abominable humanitarian crisis for people and civilians in Gaza,” he added.
Earlier also, Canada had called for a series of halts in the fighting to allow aid into the Palestinian enclave.
Citing a “terrifying” rise in anti-semitism globally and in Canada, where he said Molotov cocktails had been thrown at synagogues.
Noting the rise in Islamophobia, Trudeau said, “This is not who we are as Canadians. This is something that is not acceptable in Canada, period … Canadians are scared in our own streets right now.”
“We must be there to understand the fear and pain that millions of Canadians are feeling,” he said.
“Heavy lifting” would be required to work on a two-state solution that would lead to a viable Palestinian state and a safe, secure, viable Israel, Trudeau said.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that when the war is over, Israel would assume “overall security” of Gaza.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 10,500 people, mainly civilians and thousands of them children.
Justifying Israel’s intense bombardment of Gaza as necessary to root out Hamas “terrorism”, Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday said, “This is not just the war of the state of Israel. This is the war of the free world.”
Speaking at the EU Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, Cohen also said that Israel was attacked not only by Hamas but by other militias in the region that are supported by Iran, which he called “the world number one financer of terror”.
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Updated: 08 Nov 2023, 11:49 PM IST