Overview
- The group’s letter, issued late Thursday, urges Prime Minister Mark Carney to impose robust sanctions over conditions in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
- The signatories ask Ottawa to review Canada’s trade deal with Israel and to warn that a strategic partnership will be suspended if conditions do not improve.
- The letter presses for legal action against Canadian firms tied to settlement construction, faster revocation of charitable status for groups funding settlements or the Israeli military, and unequivocal support for ICC and ICJ cases.
- The authors cite blocked aid and journalist access to Gaza, rising settler violence in the West Bank, and a high civilian death toll in Lebanon as signs of possible law violations, while Israel says its operations target Hamas and Hezbollah.
- The Canadian Press reported no replies to requests for comment from Carney’s office, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, or Israel’s embassy, and Sen. Yuen Pau Woo urged Ottawa to follow through on last year’s joint warning as the EU opted for targeted sanctions but kept preferential trade in place.