Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday strongly urged Israel to exercise 'maximum restraint' in Gaza and said that the 'killing of women and babies' in the besieged territory must stop. Trudeau's remarks prompted a sharp response from his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
"All innocent life is equal in worth, Israeli and Palestinian. I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint," said Trudeau during a news conference on Tuesday, after previously stating that Israel has the "right to defend itself", reported CBC News.
"We’re hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents. The world is witnessing this killing of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop... The price of justice cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians," he further said.
Trudeau called for hostilities to stop so that Palestinians could get access to life-saving medical services, food, fuel and water and also demanded the hostages captured by Hamas to be released. He said that so far, over 350 people with connections to Canada have been able to enter Egypt via the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza.
"For weeks, we've been calling now for a sustained humanitarian pause. We hope that a sustained pause in the violence can help create the conditions for lasting peace," he said.
Netanyahu responds to Trudeau
In a sharp response to Trudeau's latest remarks, Israeli PM Netanyahu said that it was not Israel, but Hamas who were "deliberately targeting civilians" in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and said that forces of civilisation "must back Israel" in the ongoing war.
"While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way. Israel provides civilians in Gaza humanitarian corridors and safe zones, Hamas prevents them from leaving at gunpoint," he said on social media platform X.
"It is Hamas not Israel that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime - targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians. The forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas barbarism," Netanyahu further said.
Before Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron also urged Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip and kill innocent civilians. While recognising Israel's right to protect itself, "we do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza, he said in an interview with BBC.
"De facto - today, civilians are bombed - de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop," Macron said. Netanyahu had responded in a similar manner to the French President.
Israel-Hamas war
As the war reached its 40th day, The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that it has launched a "targeted military operation" against Hamas inside al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, where thousands of Palestinians are believed to have taken shelter.
"IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital, based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.," the Israeli military said in a post on platform X.
The hospital, which has run out of fuel and is believed to be no longer functioning, became the focus of the ongoing war as Israeli forces encircled it amid intense fighting, while doctors warned of a "catastrophic" situation for thousands of patients, staff and internally displaced people still residing there.
More than 11,200 people, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, since the deadly attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people.
ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas War, Day 40: IDF launches 'targeted' military operation in Gaza's al-Shifa hospital
