'Remember who we are': Trudeau calls for calm as tensions rise over Israel-Hamas war
PM renews calls for international law to be upheld in Gaza during address to House of Commons
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Canadians to avoid "entrenching division" Monday as tensions escalate in the Middle East and at home over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In an address to the House of Commons, Trudeau again stated that Canada supports Israel's right to self-defence while adding that international law must be upheld in Gaza — where the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating.
The prime minister then turned his attention to the domestic front, where emotions have been running high since Oct. 7 — when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,300 people, including a number of Canadians. According to the latest figures, three Canadians are still missing in the region.
In a statement last week, the RCMP said it's aware of threats on social media directed at Canada's Jewish community. Police across the country have either issued warnings or intensified patrols.
Trudeau issued a warning about the threat of antisemitism and Islamophobia, adding that Jewish and Muslim parents alike are wondering whether their kids are safe at school.
"Unrest is being felt in ways big and small. Canadians are deeply worried, no matter their background," he said.
Trudeau urged Canadians to remember that "the Canadian idea of liberty is inclusive freedom, expansive freedom.
"Remember, it's a short path to walk from mistrusting your neighbour to entrenching division.
"Let's remember who we are as Canadians, and what we stand for here, and around the world."
21 Canadians in West Bank have crossed into Jordan: Joly
Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced the first bus had departed the West Bank bringing Canadians to safety in Jordan. Her office said 21 Canadians were on board.
It's part of an effort to get Canadians out of an increasingly volatile situation. Trudeau said 10 Canadian Armed Forces flights have departed Tel Aviv so far, carrying about 1,300 passengers.
The government also has directed all non-essential staff working at Canada's embassy in Tel Aviv to leave Israel, sources have told Radio-Canada.
Meanwhile, other Canadians have joined the thousands of people on the Gaza side of the Rafah border waiting to escape into Egypt. Rumours of a ceasefire that would have allowed people to pass through the crossing have been dashed for now.
Following reports that the war could spread to the northern border, Joly also has urged Canadians in Lebanon to consider leaving while commercial flights are still available.
I am elated to announce that the first group of Canadians have now safely crossed from the West Bank into Jordan. Thank-you to our teams in Ramallah, Amman, Tel Aviv and Ottawa, who worked around the clock to make this happen. <a href="https://t.co/w2Y6he0LoL">pic.twitter.com/w2Y6he0LoL</a>
—@melaniejolyDuring a briefing to reporters over the weekend, Global Affairs Canada said it expects to use two buses to evacuate Canadians from the West Bank. Officials said about 250 people have asked for Canada's help leaving the territory.
The West Bank, a Palestinian territory that Israel has occupied since 1967, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people from Gaza who were either working in Israel or visiting family in the West Bank when Hamas militants attacked Israel.
Canada calls for humanitarian access to Gaza
Trudeau said it's vital that civilians in Gaza receive food, fuel and water. The territory has endured unrelenting death and destruction from Israeli bombing since the the conflict began more than a week ago.
"Canada fully supports Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with international law. And in Gaza, as elsewhere, international law, including humanitarian law, must be upheld by all," he said.
"Even wars have rules."
Gaza has had no electricity for five days now, leaving its hospitals and water services in dire straits as its foods supplies diminish. Joly recently called the Gaza Strip "one of the worst places on Earth right now to be living in."
Authorities in Gaza say at least 2,808 people have been killed so far by the Israeli strikes — a quarter of them children — and about 10,850 have been wounded.
After calling for those living in Gaza to evacuate to the south, Israel is now imposing a full blockade and is preparing a ground invasion into Gaza to destroy Hamas.
Israel also has told villages in a strip of territory near its border with Lebanon to evacuate. In an address to Israel's Knesset on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and its Iranian benefactor not to "test us in the north."
'Hamas can only be destroyed': Poilievre
As more details of the five Canadians killed emerged, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Hamas's incursion "also an attack on Canadians."
"Every innocent human life, Palestinian or Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or otherwise, is of equal precious value," he said to applause.
"All of us must do everything in our power to preserve this precious life and minimize the suffering of innocent civilians."
In his own address to the chamber, Poilievre called on the government to free Canadians believed to be among the nearly 200 hostages being held captive by Hamas.
"There can be no negotiating with Hamas. Hamas can only be destroyed," he said
Speaking for the NDP, MP Heather McPherson urged the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire.
"The only solution is a political solution. There is no military solution to this conflict," she said.
She ended her emotional speech with words of appreciation for Israeli and Palestinian medical and aid workers struggling to save lives.
"There's a light in this darkness," she said. "We see you and we stand with you."
House meeting for a 'take note' debate
The House will meet later Monday for a "take note" debate — a form of Parliamentary procedure that asks members for their views on an issue or aspect of public policy.
Such debates were used to discuss the future of peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia in 1994, the Iraq war and Canada's deployment in Afghanistan.
In his afternoon speech, Poilievre said his party will call for a number of possible actions and previewed one: designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.
The federal government lists a branch of the IRGC, its expeditionary Quds Force, as a terrorist entity, but has not designated the whole militia group as a terrorist entity under Canada's Criminal Code — despite mounting calls for it to do so.
"Canada must criminalize the IRGC," Poilievre said. "Terrorists must be kicked out and this organization must be a criminal entity."
Canada already has designated Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Christian Paas-Lang, Chris Brown and Reuters