Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that Canadian officials are still reviewing evidence about the Gaza hospital blast that killed and maimed many Palestinian civilians and he’s not prepared to say who’s responsible.
That’s a departure from what U.S. President Joe Biden and American national security services have said about the explosion.
“We are working closely with allies to determine exactly what happened,” Trudeau told a press conference with Caribbean leaders in Ottawa when asked if he accepted the Israeli version of events that has since been endorsed by the U.S. government.
The Israeli military has said a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian militants was behind the explosion.
Hamas has blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast.
There are conflicting reports about how many people died in the blast.
“We saw some preliminary evidence but we’ll keep working with our allies as quickly as possible before reaching any firm and final conclusion,” Trudeau said in French, adding that many communities here in Canada are “personally affected in an intensive way by what happened over there.”
He said Canada is “taking the necessary time to look carefully at everything” before saying what it believes transpired Tuesday at the Anglican Church-run facility in Gaza City.
Canada, allies looking into cause of deadly Gaza hospital blast, PM says
Featured VideoPrime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is ‘working closely with allies’ to determine who was responsible for a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital.
During a wartime visit to Israel on Wednesday, Biden said the U.S. defence department showed him intelligence that suggests the explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital likely was not caused by an Israeli airstrike.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson later said that an analysis of “overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information” showed Israel was not behind the attack.
The Democratic and Republican leadership of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee issued a statement after reviewing the evidence that’s been gathered so far.
“We feel confident that the explosion was the result of a failed rocket launch by militant terrorists and not the result of an Israeli airstrike,” said Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Marco Rubio, the committee’s leaders.
Conservative MP Michael Chong, the party’s foreign affairs critic, said in question period he wanted to “give the government the opportunity to correct and clarify the record” on who was responsible for the deadly blast.
He said Canada’s “closest intelligence allies” have already “clarified the record.”
Those allies don’t include the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Wednesday he would “not rush to judgment” about culpability. He also said the U.K., a Five Eyes intelligence partner, is “working at pace and cooperating and collaborating with our allies on this issue as we look to get to the bottom of the situation.”
“Will the government clearly state that the Israel Defence Forces and the state of Israel were not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza on Tuesday?” Chong asked.
“What happened in Gaza is absolutely devastating. Palestinian civilians, Israeli civilians are equal and must be protected,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said.
Joly pointed to Trudeau’s earlier statement that Canada isn’t ready to say definitively who caused the explosion.
“You heard the prime minister earlier today. Canada and its allies are working to determine exactly what happened and Canadians deserve answers,” she said.
Palestinians look at the site of the explosion at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (Abed Khaled/AP)
At a later press conference about Canadian diplomats leaving India, Joly was pressed to explain why Canada isn’t willing yet to accept U.S. and Israeli statements assigning blame for the hospital blast.
“The prime minister has already answered,” Joly said.
She bristled at repeated questions about the situation.
“I said it in the House, I said it in French, and I’ll say it again. What happened in Gaza is completely devastating. There’s been numerous conversations. Canada is in contact with all of its allies on this issue. We’ll make sure to know what exactly happened,” she said.
Anglican church officials have said an untold number of Palestinian refugees were camped out in the hospital courtyard when the explosion hit Tuesday.
Images gathered by BBC News, the Associated Press and Reuters show that the hospital is still standing after the blast but there are blown-out windows, a small crater in the pavement near the site and burned-out vehicles and overturned cars nearby.
Are you in the Middle East and affected by the war between Israel and Hamas? We want to hear about your experience. Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.
FREDERICTON – A look at David Coon, leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick:
Born: Oct. 28, 1956.
Early years: Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he spent about three decades as an environmental advocate.
Education: A trained biologist, he graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in Montreal in 1978.
Family: He and his wife Janice Harvey have two daughters, Caroline and Laura.
Before politics: Worked as an environmental educator, organizer, activist and manager for 33 years, mainly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Politics: Joined the Green Party of Canada in May 2006 and was elected leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in September 2012. Won a seat in the legislature in 2014 — a first for the province’s Greens.
Quote: “It was despicable. He’s clearly decided to take the low road in this campaign, to adopt some Trump-lite fearmongering.” — David Coon on Sept. 12, 2024, reacting to Blaine Higgs’s claim that the federal government had decided to send 4,600 asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
Born: March 1, 1954.
Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.
Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.
Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.
Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.
Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.
Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.
The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.
The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.
Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.
Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.
The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
