Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged Israel to ‘get more involved’ in its war on Gaza.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on Israel to stop “killing babies,” earning an angry response from Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trudeau said on Tuesday that the “killing of women, children, babies” in the besieged Gaza Strip must end. Netanyahu pushed back, insisting that Hamas is responsible for civilian deaths while Israeli forces continue to pound the enclave.
“I urge the Israeli government to use maximum restraint,” Trudeau said in his strongest criticism of Israel since the war on Gaza began more than five weeks ago. “The world is watching, on TV, on social media – we are hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, children who have lost their parents.
“The world is seeing this slaughter of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop,” he told a news conference in the western province of British Columbia.
In a post on X directed to Trudeau, early Wednesday, Netanyahu said: “It is not Israel that deliberately targets civilians but Hamas that has targeted, shot and killed civilians in the atrocities worst done to the Jews since the Holocaust.”
“The forces of civilization must support Israel to defeat the barbarism of Hamas,” Netanyahu continued.
It is not Israel that deliberately targets civilians but Hamas that has targeted, burned and murdered civilians in the worst atrocities committed by the Jews since the Holocaust.
While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing…
— Benjamin Netanyahu November 15, 2023
Canada has insisted that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas after the Palestinian group attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people.
But he has also expressed concern about the growing death toll in the besieged and besieged enclave, where more than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the conflict began.
“The price of justice cannot be continued suffering for Palestinian civilians,” Trudeau said on Tuesday. “Every war has rules. Every innocent life has equal value. Israel and Palestine .”
About 350 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and family members were evacuated from Gaza, he said.
The Canadian leader also called on Hamas to stop using civilians as human shields and to release “immediately and unconditionally” all the hostages it took on October 7.
On X, Netanyahu said that “Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way,” even as its army bombards Gaza constantly.
On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers attacked al-Shifa Hospital, which they have been attacking for days. Thousands of sick and displaced Palestinians are trapped inside, including dozens of premature babies who are fighting for their lives.
International rights groups have said that Israeli attacks on hospitals “should be investigated as war crimes”.
Last week, Trudeau called for a major humanitarian pause in the conflict to allow the release of all hostages and the delivery of sufficient aid to address civilian needs in Gaza.
