Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press Mélanie Joly and Justin Trudeau, seen here at the UN on September 24, 2024, try to prevent a military escalation in the Middle East.
Boris Proulx Parliamentary Correspondent
Published yesterday at 2:34 p.m. Updated yesterday at 5:11 p.m.
- Canada
Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, carefully avoided specifying on Wednesday how far Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran can go, or whether new attacks in Lebanon would be able to shake Canada’s support for the Hebrew state.
“We’re taking it one day at a time. Right now, what concerns us is that there will be a generalized war in the Middle East,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed to the parliamentary press. Her government continues to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a request it has been making since December for the conflict in Gaza.
Regarding how far Israel could go in its military response against Iran, a country that launched hundreds of missiles toward its territory on Tuesday, Mélanie Joly agreed that “that's the big question,” without drawing a red line.
“There's a lot of diplomatic work going on. Right now, we know that Israel has said that there will be [retaliation]. So, the question is how we can ensure that [these reprisals] don't result in a generalized war.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000A few minutes earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had declared that “obviously, Israel has the right to defend itself against these attacks.” He condemned the missile attack by Iran, “a regime that supports terrorism,” but assured that he was in discussions with the other heads of government of the G7 countries to avoid a military escalation in the region.
In recent days, Israel has increased its airstrikes on Lebanese territory, including on the capital, Beirut, to target the Lebanese Hezbollah. Its military has also begun ground operations in the country.
“Canada's role right now is to ensure that there is no generalized war in the Middle East,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.
Call for evacuation
Minister Joly used Wednesday’s press scrum to implore Canadians in Lebanon to take advantage of the government’s assistance and board one of the few remaining commercial flights. Two Ottawa-facilitated flights are scheduled to depart Thursday.
“We can see that there are still several seats that are empty, so my [message] is this: if you are offered a seat, please take it. It is very, very important,” she said in both official languages.
About 300 Canadians have already left Beirut thanks to Ottawa’s assistance. The federal government is also proposing to facilitate the exit from Lebanon of American, Australian and New Zealand nationals, out of the approximately 650 places available on Thursday.
On Tuesday evening, an emergency debate on the situation in Lebanon was held at the initiative of the New Democratic Party. The latter again accused the Israeli government of committing “genocide” in Palestine.
“We know that we charge Canadian citizens about $445 to fly. […] Do we know to what extent the cost of plane tickets can be a barrier that prevents families from flying ?” asked Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin.
“I want to make sure that we have the resources and capabilities necessary to evacuate Canadians in Lebanon,” added Conservative MP James Bezan.
The federal government spent part of the summer urging Canadians in Lebanon to return home on their own, on commercial flights, given the risk of a regional flare-up of the conflict between Israel and Hamas that erupted after a surprise attack inside Israeli territory on October 7. About 45,000 Canadians are believed to be in Lebanon, the government estimates.
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