Leaders choose sides over looming Rafah offensive
TRUDEAU AMONG THOSE GRAVELY CONCERNED, WHILE POILIEVRE CALLS ON HAMAS TO SURRENDER
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the leaders of Australia and New Zealand in calling on Israel not to proceed with its military operation in Rafah.
The three leaders released a joint statement Wednesday urging Israel not to proceed because 1.5 million civilians have taken refuge in the area.
“We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah. A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic,” they said. “We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go.”
Rafah is on the southern edge of Gaza along the border with Egypt. Civilians have been fleeing south since Israel launched its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.
More than 1,200 Israelis were killed during that attack and 240 people taken hostage, about half of whom remain in the hands of Hamas.
The three leaders said in their statement that Palestinian civilians should not be made to pay the price for Hamas.
“With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating,” they said.
“There is growing international consensus. Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community.”
The leaders said all hostages should be released and called on Israel for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed. Hostages must be released. The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza has never been greater. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be provided to civilians.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Hamas should be held responsible for the war and the terrorist group’s immediate surrender is the only way to end it.
“The violence can end today if Hamas would free the hostages, lay down arms and surrender all the terrorists who carried out the genocidal attacks of Oct. 7. I call on Hamas to do that. Otherwise, Hamas has to be destroyed.”
Israel has said it must eliminate Hamas’s last power base in Rafah, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military would begin the operation after civilians have had the opportunity to leave the area.
On Thursday, Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military said it had “credible intelligence” that Hamas had held hostages at Nasser Hospital and that the hostages’ remains might still be inside.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said forces were conducting a “precise and limited” operation there and would not forcibly evacuate medics or patients. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to shield its fighters.
A released hostage told The Associated Press last month that she and over two dozen other captives had been held in Nasser Hospital. International law prohibits the targeting of medical facilities, but they can lose those protections if they are used for military purposes.
Several Liberal MPS have expressed their concerns about the Trudeau government’s stance on the conflict.
In a story reported by CBC, Toronto Liberal MP Rob Oliphant was recorded by one of his constituents criticizing the government’s decision to suspend funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), saying he supported the group. Several countries have suspended UNRWA funding after Israel alleged that several of its employees participated in the terrorist attack on Israel.
Last week, Israel uncovered a Hamas military compound located beneath UNRWA’S headquarters in Gaza.
Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, told CBC the conversation was private, but said he would defend anything he had said.
Another Liberal MP, Salma Zahid, said it is time for Canada to withdraw support for Israel. “With these attacks on Rafah, I think enough is enough. People were told to flee from the north, I think more than half of the people living in Gaza were taking refuge around Rafah,” she said.
Trudeau said his MPS come from a wide variety of backgrounds and communities and it only makes sense that there would be differences of opinion.
“One of the strengths of the Liberal party federally is that we have always had a strong number of people who feel and who reflect the diversity of perspectives and views across the country,” he said. “The kinds of conversations that go on within our party are not always easy, but they reflect that diversity of conversations happening across the country.”