OTTAWA—Prime Minister Mark Carney says the shaky ceasefire in the U.S.- and Israel-led war on Iran should include an immediate cessation of hostilities in Lebanon where Israel launched massive airstrikes that killed and wounded hundreds this week.
In his first public comments on the war after joining other global leaders in welcoming Tuesday night’s ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, Carney distinctly framed Israel’s latest actions in Lebanon as in violation of a ceasefire that those leaders had supported.
That’s in contrast to Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who have publicly said that Hezbollah targets in Lebanon remain squarely in play.
Trump told PBS that Lebanon’s battles are a “separate skirmish,” and “because of Hezbollah, they were not included in the deal,” although he predicted it would soon be “taken care of too.”
Israel launched new attacks in Lebanon the day after the ceasefire that Iran insists had been included in the deal it agreed to.
Carney on Thursday turned aside questions of whether more needs to be done, such as sanctions, to curb Israel’s actions, saying he wouldn’t go that far. But he acknowledged the “obvious.”
“The ceasefire is very fragile,” Carney said at a Montreal news conference. “The ceasefire needs to include Lebanon. That certainly had been the understanding,” he said, “and that needs to be the reality on the ground.”
Carney said that “of course means Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, needs to be brought under control.” But he suggested it is not only Israel’s mission, saying “that is the effort of the government of Lebanon as well.”
Israel, which as dubbed its bombing campaign Operation Eternal Darkness, conducted a wave of airstrikes across Lebanon as choked-off oil and gas supplies and rising global energy prices put added pressure on the U.S. Administration.
Carney and the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Australia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Japan, Iceland, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Greece, the EU, all signed the joint statement this week calling for a substantive negotiated settlement in the Middle East.
“We call upon all sides to implement the ceasefire, including in Lebanon,” as they also pledged support to reopen sea traffic in region. “Our governments will contribute to ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
It is unclear what that means from Canada’s perspective in terms of military or other contribution.
But Carney expressed impatience with the unfolding events.
“Things need to de-escalate, in fact they needed to de-escalate yesterday,” Carney said. “And Canada will support all efforts to achieve that goal.”
Carney sidestepped a question of whether he is concerned about the stability of the North Atlantic military alliance, or NATO, given Trump’s recurring complaints NATO has done nothing to help his Iran war effort, and his latest threat to punish Germany and Spain, among others he deems to have failed him.
Instead, Carney talked about how Canada has met its NATO military spending commitment, and is advancing protection of Canadians and the Arctic by working with “subsets” of NATO allies, like the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany “and others.”
“That’s a robust way of protecting Canadians, regardless of how NATO itself evolves,” he said, striking a note of caution.
“At the core is we’re a strong NATO member. We’re going to continue to support its evolution.”
