e-7167 (Foreign affairs)

Canada remains firmly committed to a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security, and dignity. Canada’s efforts in the region will continue to focus on laying the foundations for this outcome.

Over the past few years, Palestinian civilians in Gaza have suffered unthinkable horrors as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict. While the implementation of the Gaza peace plan’s initial phases has brought a measure of relief, the situation on the ground remains dire. The Government of Canada is deeply alarmed by the acute humanitarian crisis that persists across the Gaza Strip, and by the fact that, despite the ceasefire, hundreds have been killed in hostilities since October 2025. This situation is unsustainable, and Canada has been working closely with allies to support the full implementation of the 20-point peace plan. Canada continues to call for the increase of humanitarian assistance and reiterate that United Nations agencies and international Non-Governmental Organization must be able to operate in Gaza in a sustained and predictable way.

Canada will continue to be a leading contributor to humanitarian relief efforts, building on the $400M in international assistance for Palestinians committed since October 2023. Canada is also assessing how best it can support stabilization, early recovery and reconstruction efforts in Gaza as conditions permit. A crucial part of this contribution is Canada’s ongoing support to the Palestinian Authority’s reform and capacity-building efforts, so that it can reassume governance responsibilities in Gaza. 

Israel and Hamas are bound by international humanitarian law and must fully uphold their obligations under it. This includes the obligation to protect civilians. Canadian officials, in private diplomatic engagements and in public advocacy, have urged and will continue to urge Israel to respect its international legal obligations and follow through on its commitments under the 20-point plan. The plan stipulates that Israel must allow sustained and unimpeded humanitarian aid flows into and throughout Gaza via the United Nations-led system. Hamas, for its part, must also follow through on its side of the peace plan, including disarming and allowing Gaza to be demilitarized. 

To be clear, Canada unequivocally condemns Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, which took the lives of nearly 1,200 people, including Canadians. Political negotiations must lead to Hamas’—a listed terrorist entity—disarmament and permanent removal from governance in Gaza. Canada will continue to support the Palestinian Authority’s reform agenda so that it can play a role in governing Gaza. Canada notes the launch of the Palestinian-led National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which should be empowered to assume its interim governance role and to support the delivery of essential services across all of Gaza.

Canada takes seriously any allegation of genocide and values the central role of international courts and tribunals in the legal determination of whether a situation constitutes genocide. The question of genocide in Gaza is before the International Court of Justice in South Africa v. Israel, and Canada is following these proceedings closely. Canada supports the International Court of Justice’s critical role in the peaceful settlement of disputes and supports the International Criminal Court’s critical role in pursuing accountability. Canada respects the independence of the International Criminal Court, its judiciary and the Office of the Prosecutor. Canada’s position remains that, as a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it must comply with its obligations under the Statute and under international law.

Since January 8, 2024, the Government of Canada has not approved any new arms export permits to Israel that could be used in the current conflict in Gaza. In 2024, the government also suspended export permits for parts destined for Israel that could have conceivably later been incorporated into items used in that conflict. All permits suspended in 2024 remain suspended and cannot be used to export to Israel.

The international community must also not lose sight of the situation in the West Bank, where extremist settler violence against Palestinians has continued unabated and where the Government of Israel’s unrelenting policy of settlement expansion violates international law, threatens the viability of a Palestinian state, and challenges the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for Gaza.

Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied in 1967 (the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip). The Fourth Geneva Convention applies in the occupied territories and establishes Israel's obligations as an occupying power, in particular with respect to the humane treatment of the inhabitants of the occupied territories. As referred to in the United Nation Security Council Resolutions 446 and 465, Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The settlements also constitute a serious obstacle to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. Canada calls on Israel to reverse its policy of settlement expansion.

Under the Special Economic Measures (Extremist Settler Violence) Regulations, Canada has imposed four rounds of sanctions targeting extremist Israeli individuals and entities that commit or incite violence against Palestinians. These measures aim to impose consequences on those responsible for the deeply alarming surge in settler violence that is occurring in Palestine. Canada’s sanctions regime includes sanctions against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for their role in facilitating such violence. Canada has also issued four rounds of sanctions against Hamas and its affiliates.