National

Joly to plead for humanitarian pauses as she says time is running out to help in Gaza

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Oct, 2023 10:24 AM

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says time is running out to help people in Gaza.

At this moment of global crises and deep uncertainty, Canada can make significant contributions to meet this challenge.

To do so, our foreign policy will be guided by two principles:

Vigorously defending our sovereignty.

Using pragmatic diplomacy.
— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) October 30, 2023

In a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto this afternoon, Joly is expected to plead for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow more aid to get into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.

Joly's speech will also urge that the more than 200 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza must be released.

Her call comes as the Canadian Armed Forces confirms it has sent special forces to Canada's embassy in Tel Aviv, after Global Affairs Canada requested military support to help prepare for the possible escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.

The fears of a broader conflict have been exacerbated by clashes at the Israeli-Lebanese border, which officials say might lead to the need for an evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon.

The latest conflict began when Hamas militants launched brazen attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, and Israel responded with force, showering Gaza with rockets and in recent days launching a ground offensive.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

The program, which is financed entirely through premiums paid by workers and employers, accumulated $25.9 billion of debt by the end of 2021, according to the Office of the Chief Actuary. The rise in debt comes after a staggering number of Canadians were unemployed during the pandemic and eligibility rules for the program were relaxed to ease access to jobless benefits.

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

British Columbia is enduring a record-breaking dry spell, but farmer Amir Mann says the drought is far preferable to other recent weather extremes. Mann and others involved in agriculture say the downside of the drought, which has required some crops to be irrigated, is offset by benefits such as a longer harvesting period and little rot.

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

West Vancouver Fire Rescue duty chief Matt Furlot says crews responded at around 7 a.m. He said they were trying to pinpoint the exact location of the fire and the best way to access to the flames.

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

At 7:30 p.m. on July 6, a 24-year-old woman reported she had been sexually assaulted while on the escalator at the Granville SkyTrain Station by a suspect who ran away. The investigation was completed by Metro Vancouver Transit Police. A second incident occurred the following day on West Broadway at Ash Street. Just before 2 p.m. a 38-year-old woman was sexually assaulted.

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

The victim – a neighbourhood resident for 30 years – was walking to a bakery near Main Street and East Pender when he was pushed over by a stranger around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. Several witnesses stopped to help the senior, who was taken to hospital.

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

B.C. readies for post-drought flooding: government

Emergency Management BC says when rain falls after long dry spells, the parched soil can increase runoff and river flow. It says the transition to the rainy season doesn't typically cause extensive flooding and the devastation wreaked by last year's atmospheric rivers was rare.