The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, says that she will transmit the “serious concerns” of Canada to the Israel ambassador after the members of the Israeli army fired near a diplomatic delegation, which included the Canadians, in the West Bank on Wednesday.
In a social media post, the new minister confirmed that four Canadian staff were part of a tour in the city of Jenin when the members of the Israel Defense Forces (FDI) shot in their surroundings. Anand’s office later that two were Canadians and two were local staff.
“Relieved to know that our team is safe,” Anand wrote after speaking with Canada’s head of Mission in Ramallah.
“I have asked my officials to summon the Israel ambassador to transmit Canada’s serious concerns. We expect full investigation and responsibility.”
In a statement, the IDF said that the tourism group, which also included representatives from other countries, “deviated” from the approved route and the soldiers fired warning shots so that the delegation moved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel’s military operation will continue until all Gaza parts are under Israeli control. Thomas Juneau, professor at the University of Ottawa, and Jon Allen, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel, join Power & Politics to evaluate the implications of the recent comments of Netanyahu for the international community.
The IDF said “regrets the discomfort caused.”
Anand joins other foreign ministers condemning the incident.
The situation is “unheard of,” said Jon Allen, former Canadian ambassador to Israel.
“The fact that he had a group of diplomats who were not correctly protected by the IDF or other security forces while they were in the West Bank … It is crumbled,” Allen told CBC News Network Power and politics.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron to threaten to impose sanctions on Israel in response to his “denial of essential humanitarian assistance” in Gaza.
“The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable,” said the three leaders.
The joint statement also said that leaders opposed “any attempt” to expand the Israeli agreement in the West Bank.
Netanyahu condemns Carney and other leaders
The letter of the Western leaders followed the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that his country would control Gaza despite the growing international pressure to lift a blockade in the supplies of aid that left the enclave to the edge of the famine.
Netanyahu condemned the joint statement in a publication on social networks and described it as “a Grand Prix for the genocidal attack against Israel on October 7,” referring to Hamas’ attack against Israel in 2023 that turned on the war in Gaza
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also pointed to Carney’s comments.
“Hamas’ terrorists just thanked Mark Carney for his recent statement about Israel,” he published on Tuesday.
“Threatening Israel with sanctions and ‘more concrete actions’, while a terrorist group at its borders has its citizens as hostages and refuses to stop attacking Israel is wrong.”
Thomas Juneau, associate professor of Political Science at the University of Ottawa, says that even if the three countries follow the sanctions, they would do little to deter the Netanyahu government.
“There is only an international actor who could really have an impact on the calculation of Israel’s decision -making and that is the United States,” Juanneau told Power and politics.
“France and the United Kingdom are not insignificant as international actors, they can have some influence: Canada, even less than them. But fundamentally, as long as the United States does not exert significant pressure on Israel to change course … Then I don’t think we will see a significant change in Israel’s actions.
In a serious warning this week, the United Nations said that 14,000 babies run the risk of acute malnutrition if food parked at the border cannot reach them in Gaza.
According to help groups, Israel began to allow dozens of humanitarian trucks in Gaza on Wednesday, but workers have not been able to bring food and supplies to the distribution points and the needy Palestinians.
