Liberal politicians were very upset and sad on Tuesday when they heard that Israel had attacked the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, which was the only safe place for Palestinian people who had to leave their homes.
Canada’s foreign minister criticized Israel’s military operation in Rafah, but said she’s still hopeful that ceasefire talks will succeed.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said that it is not okay for Rafah to be invaded because it would put the lives of women, children, and innocent people in danger.
Israeli leaders said on Monday that the country has given the go-ahead for a military operation in the border city, and they have started attacking targets in the area.
The move happened shortly after Hamas said yes to a peace plan from Egypt and Qatar. But Israel doesn’t think the plan is good enough.
The situation in Palestine is very bad. Most people in the city have had to leave their homes and have no place to go. Joly said this.
She also said Canada is asking Israeli officials to stop the military operation.
Humanitarian aid was stopped because Israel took control of the border on Tuesday. The Prime Minister of Israel said this was an important move to weaken Hamas’ military and economic power.
Around 13 million Palestinians, which is more than half of the people who live in Gaza, are crowded into Rafah and depend on help that comes through the border crossing.
“Many people are stuck there without help, so a lot of innocent people will get hurt,” explained International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen on Tuesday. He said that Canada has always told people not to use the military in Rafah.
“We’re really unhappy that it’s happening. ”
Canada has looked into different ways to help the people in the besieged area, like giving help through a sea port and dropping supplies from the air, according to Hussen.
“He said that we have tried our best. ”
The closure of the border will make it harder for extended family members of Canadians in Gaza to leave.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he is very worried because we may not be able to help people leave.
The government started a visa program to bring people to Canada to be with their families, but they couldn’t help them leave the war zone through the Rafah border. Some people paid a lot of money to private companies to help them leave and go into Egypt.
Miller said that people will probably keep trying to get out, even in a dangerous area, because they need to escape no matter what.
“It’s difficult to guess, but it will probably be even more difficult, I think,” he said.
Last week, Canadian officials told senators they want fighting to stop in Gaza so they can send aid there.
Experts say that Ottawa is in a difficult position because the leaders involved in the conflict are not motivated to end it.
Ottawa is giving money to help bring more food into Gaza, so it will be cheaper and people won’t have to buy it from illegal sellers. Karim Morcos, who works for Canada’s Global Affairs, said this.
He said that flour is very hard to find and costs a lot in the area. Getting it delivered causes fights and stealing.
“UN agencies want to give so much aid that it loses its value,” he said at a meeting last week.
“They want to fill a soccer stadium with aid and let people help themselves. ” That’s the only way they can do it for now, because there is no law and order to protect the deliveries.
Both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza are not happy with their leaders. Their leaders use the ongoing conflict to divert attention from their unpopularity. This was said by Janice Stein, a foreign-policy expert at the University of Toronto.
Most Israelis want Netanyahu to leave, and there are disagreements among his group of nationalist and religious parties about Iran. Palestinians are very mad at Hamas for putting them in danger during the war without thinking about the people who live there.
Gaza was in a big fight after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7. They killed 1,200 people in Israel, both civilians and soldiers.
The fighting in the area has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, according to health officials.
Stein said that we need to act quickly to make the conflict less intense. If the conflict spreads to more areas, it could have very bad effects on the people who live there.