OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is condemning Israel for failing to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in the latest sign of rising international alarm over the starvation and deaths of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.
In a statement posted Thursday night on social media, Carney said Israel must stop controlling aid distribution to allow desperately needed supplies into the enclave that Israel first occupied almost sixty years ago. He alleged that the Israeli government has failed “to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster” in the territory, where provisions — including some that has been funded by Canada — have been blocked from reaching “starving civilians” in Gaza.
“Israel’s control of aid distribution must be replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations,” Carney wrote.
“This denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international law.”
Carney also called for Israel and Hamas — a designated terrorist organization that launched a brutal assault on Israeli civilians in October 2023 that precipitated more than two years of war — to agree to an “immediate ceasefire.” He repeated demands for Hamas to release remaining hostages taken during that assault, and reiterated Canada’s support for a “two-state solution” to the decades-long conflict that “guarantees peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.”
Thursday’s statement follows similar condemnation of Israel for the humanitarian crisis from other world leaders earlier in the day. French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country will soon officially recognize Palestine as a state, making France the first major Western power to take that step, as he repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, also voiced alarm over what he called a “humanitarian catastrophe,” declaring that the “suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable.” Starmer said he would meet with European partners to discuss the situation on Friday, and called on Israel to “change course” and let more aid get into the occupied territory.
The Israeli government had denied that it is blocking supplies from entering Gaza, and earlier this week accused the United Nations of failing to move aid that is waiting at the border of the territory.
Thursday’s condemnation is the latest in a series of statements this week, including a joint call from Canada, 24 other countries and the European Union. That statement declared civilian suffering in Gaza had “reached new depths” and criticized Israel for its alleged mismanagement of aid into the territory.
”We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,” the statement said.
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the joint statement, saying it was ”disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.
”All statements and all claims should be directed at the only party responsible for the lack of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire: Hamas, which started this war and is prolonging it,” the ministry stated on social media.
On Wednesday, the UN human rights office alleged Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians who were trying to get food, including near aid sites, inside Gaza.
The UN has also declared that hunger has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation” in Gaza, with a top official stating Monday that almost 100,000 women and children there are dealing with acute malnutrition and a third of the population is going without food for several days in a row, the Associated Press reported.
In an email to the Star this week, Global Affairs Canada said the government is considering a “range of options for further action if Israel does not cease its escalation and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.”
The department did not specify which actions Canada might take.
The Israel-Hamas war has raged since the October 2023 attack on Israeli civilians that killed more than 1,200 people and including the kidnapping of about 250 hostages. In the nearly two years since, Israel has bombarded Gaza with airstrikes, blockaded the territory and launched ground invasions in an effort to root out and eliminate the territory’s Hamas governors.
The territory’s health minister says more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Associated Press.
With files from Raisa Patel
