OTTAWA, Oct 12 — Canada is worried about what will happen in Gaza, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said yesterday, citing dire humanitarian conditions ahead of a potential Israeli ground assault against Hamas.
Joly’s comments were among the clearest expressions of concern so far by a major Western nation about the impact of an assault. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, pressed about Israel’s response, on Tuesday said, “I’m not here to draw red lines”.
Joly also said three Canadians had died and Ottawa has reports that three more are missing.
Canada unequivocally condemned a Hamas assault on Saturday, in which at least 1,200 people died, said Joly. Israel has since pounded the blockaded Gaza enclave, killing 1,055 people and wounding 5,184, Palestinian officials say.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza was dire before this weekend, and this will only deteriorate the situation further... this will get worse before it gets better,” Joly told reporters.
“My heart breaks for the deaths we have seen. And I share the anxiety about what will happen next,” she continued, calling for a humanitarian corridor into the enclave, which Israel has sealed off.
Canada is urging all parties to respect international humanitarian law and grant access and will continue to support the humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, Joly said.
“This is the longstanding position of Canada when it comes to any form of conflict, so we just continue to abide by this approach,” she said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel’s blockade and bombing of Gaza was a disproportionate response amounting to a “massacre”. UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that “sieges” were illegal under international law.
Canada is sending a team of experts to help Israel’s chief hostage negotiator. Joly and senior officials declined to say whether they thought any Canadians were being held captive.
More than 4,700 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank had registered with Ottawa. Around 700 people want to be evacuated, a senior Canadian official later told reporters.
The Canadian government will soon start using two military planes to fly out citizens and permanent residents from Tel Aviv to Athens, the official said.
On Wednesday, a privately organized evacuation flight airlifted 27 passengers, mostly Canadians, from the Israeli city of Haifa to Larnaca, Cyprus, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing one of the passengers. That was the first evacuation flight for Canadians in Israel, and two more privately arranged flights are planned in the next two days, the newspaper added.
One of Canada’s biggest evacuation of citizens occurred in 2006 when it arranged for some 14,000 people to be transported out of Lebanon. — Reuters
