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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he supports an order from the International Court of Justice for Israel to stop any military campaigns in Rafah.
Hamas should lay down its arms and release the hostages still in the group’s custody, but it’s also time for Israel to stop its military campaign, said Trudeau.
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“There also must be no more military operations in Rafah by Israel and certainly no escalation of military operations in Rafah,” he said. “The ICJ’s proposals are binding, and we expect everyone to follow them as a matter of international law.”
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He said the military operation has to come to an end so humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza where he said there is a real risk of starvation and famine.
“Canada’s position has been clear for many many weeks now. We need an immediate ceasefire,” he said. “We need to be getting humanitarian aid into Gaza at much greater amounts than we are right now. The humanitarian catastrophe is horrific.”
The International Court of Justice issued the order Friday calling on the Israeli military to stop any operations in the city, which is on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip. Israel has been moving into the city in recent weeks after a broader campaign across Gaza that came in response to the October 7 terror attacks.
The vote on the court was 13-2, with the court finding that continuing the military operation in Rafah would lead to significant civilian casualties.
“The court further considers that, on the basis of the information before it, the immense risks associated with a military offensive in Rafah have started to materialize and will intensify even further if the operation continues,” the decision reads.
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The Israeli government has said publicly that its troops must move into Rafah to finish the effort to destroy the terrorist group Hamas. The terrorist group orchestrated the October 7 attack in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
Since the military campaign began in Gaza an estimated 30,000 people have been killed, according to figures released by the Israeli government, which believes 14,000 of those people were Hamas terrorists and 16,000 were civilians.
Trudeau said Israel’s government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is acting as a barrier to peace at this point.
“Canada’s position has always been that the solution to the extraordinarily difficult challenges in the Middle East are a two-state solution, a peaceful, secure democratic Israel alongside a peaceful, secure, democratic Palestinian state,” Trudeau said. “Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government is creating barriers and blockages to ever being able to create or even imagine that two-state solution that is where we fundamentally disagree.”
National Post
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