To meet the urgent need for assistance in the 2.3 million-person beleaguered enclave of Gaza, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged on Monday for a humanitarian corridor to be established. In response to a Hamas onslaught last week that claimed more than 1,300 lives, Israel completely cut off Gaza and bombarded the populated Palestinian territory with unheard-of airstrikes.
According to Gazan officials, more than 2,800 people—more than a quarter of them children—have died due to Israel’s aerial assault, and at least 10,000 more have been injured.
Israel has stated that in addition to the airstrikes, it intends to conduct a significant ground invasion into northern Gaza to defeat Hamas, the Iranian-backed group that governs the coastal strip of territory that Israel took from Egypt in 1967.
“Canada is requesting unhindered access for humanitarians and creating a humanitarian corridor to provide basic supplies like food, gasoline, and water to Gaza’s inhabitants. This must take place immediately, according to Trudeau.
He informed the House of Commons lower house of parliament that while Canada fully backed Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law, “even wars have rules.”
“Terrorism is always indefensible, and nothing can justify Hamas’ acts of terror. … Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people nor their legitimate aspirations,” he stated.
Separately, the Ottawa government evacuated some non-essential personnel and their families from the Canadian embassies in Tel Aviv and Ramallah in the West Bank.
Essential staff members are still present at both missions, though, and more employees have been dispatched from other Canadian embassies abroad “to assist Canadians in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip,” according to the Canadian government.
Ottawa advised Canadians to leave Lebanon as soon as they could earlier in the day due to the increased security dangers in the area.
Two military aircraft from Canada have been used to transport persons who required assistance departing Israel. In addition to the initial batch of Canadians who successfully escaped from the West Bank into Jordan, Canada is attempting to extricate around 300 persons from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. Five Canadians died in the Hamas attack on Israel, and three are still missing.
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