PARIS – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly reiterated calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East on Saturday as he blamed Hamas, Hezbollah and Israel for a staggering number of civilian deaths.
But Trudeau stopped short of outright condemning Israel for beginning a ground war days after the Israeli military crossed the border into southern Lebanon.
“We need to see peace in the region,” Trudeau said from Paris on the final day of the Francophonie summit.
The gathering of leaders of French-speaking countries takes place every two years to promote and protect French language and culture around the world.
But the war in the Middle East has been a dominant factor in this year’s meeting, particularly as Lebanon is one of the organization’s 88 member countries.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, in Paris with Trudeau, met with a Lebanese government minister later Saturday.
“Right now the priority of Canada is of course to be acting in solidarity with the people of Lebanon. We’re extremely preoccupied by the fact that so many innocent lives have been lost,” Joly said.
“So in these circumstances, our job is definitely to make sure we get to a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.”
Ziad Makary, the Lebanese information minister, said Lebanon is ready for a ceasefire deal but Israel has not been engaging with efforts led by France and the U.S. to get one signed.
“We count a lot on Canada,” Makary said in French, adding that the two countries have a good relationship and the Lebanese diaspora in Canada is very active.
He also highlighted the impact of the war on civilians, including the death toll and number of people displaced.
Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon Saturday, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes as well as a Palestinian refugee camp in the country’s north as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.
Violence in the region escalated in September, nearly a year after the Hamas attack on Israel that set off the latest war with Hamas in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
About 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 others taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Gaza’a health authorities say nearly 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the year since.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily in the last year, but that violence has grown exponentially in the last two weeks as Israel began going after multiple Hezbollah targets in suburban Beirut and began a ground incursion.
Lebanese officials say nearly 2,000 people have been killed in recent weeks.
Western efforts to bring an end to the war in Gaza have failed so far. Now world leaders are having to contend with the risk of an all-out regional war that may include Iran more directly.
Iran, which helps arm and finance both Hamas and Hezbollah, launched at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, an attack Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as a “shining” job by Iran’s armed forces. On Friday, he said they would do it again if needed.
Trudeau condemned the Iranian missile attacks last week, but when asked if he condemned Israel for moving troops by land into Lebanon, he used different language.
“The terrorist organizations, Hezbollah and Hamas, have caused countless deaths, but so has the response of Israel,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we see de-escalation and we need to continue to hold Iran to account for its funding and organizing behind the scenes of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of the Houthis.”
Israel has a legitimate right to respond to Iran’s attacks, Trudeau said, “but at the same time, we have to be mindful about not letting the situation get further in claimed inflamed, not allowing or seeing further escalation of violence or spreading of conflict through the region.”
Trudeau said peace includes a two-state solution for both Israel and a Palestinian state.
Joly said Saturday about 1,000 Canadians have now been able to flee the violence on flights chartered by Canada from Beirut to Istanbul.
More flights have been added on Monday and Tuesday, she said.
Canada believes nearly 45,000 citizens and close family members were in Lebanon when the violence began escalating last month. Joly said 6,000 Canadians have registered to get more information about the flights being offered.
But many seats are not being taken when those registered are being called back and offered a ticket. Joly said she knows things are difficult but pleaded with people to take a seat if offered one.
Trudeau was asked about the safety of encouraging Canadians to fly out in light of an airstrike that got close to the Beirut airport Friday and the two Canadians who were killed trying to flee violence in southern Lebanon on Sept. 23.
“The risks in the region have been known for a long time, which is why for the past many months we have been exhorting Canadians to get out of Lebanon,” Trudeau said.
“The tragedy of the two Canadians killed is something that weighs heavily on us but we know we need to continue to offer opportunities for people to leave to safety and we will continue to do that work.”
He also said critical infrastructure, including the port and the airport in Beirut, must not be targeted.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2024.
-with files from The Associated Press.
