Canada’s foreign affairs minister says the federal government is “evaluating” its relationship with Israel after the country’s Sept. 9 strike on Qatar.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand made the comments Sept. 10 on the sidelines of the Liberal caucus retreat in Edmonton, saying Israel’s strike on Hamas leadership in the Qatari capital of Doha interrupted Qatar’s efforts to broker peace between Hamas and Israel amid their ongoing war.
“We are evaluating the relationship with Israel. Of course, the attack yesterday on Qatar was one that was unacceptable. It was a violation of Qatari airspace,” Anand said. “There were deaths on the ground at a time when Qatar was trying to facilitate peace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his nation’s Sept. 9 strike “fully justified” and said its goal was to eliminate those behind the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, as well as retaliation for a Sept. 8 attack at a Jerusalem bus stop that killed four Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers.
Hamas representatives said Israel’s strike was a “heinous crime” that killed five Hamas members and the son of negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, but denied that any of its leaders had been killed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney previously condemned Israel’s strike, saying Sept. 9 on social media that it was an “intolerable expansion of violence” that poses “a grave risk of escalating conflict throughout the region” and disrupts “efforts to advance peace & security.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said the strike didn’t advance Israeli or U.S. objectives in the region, but added that eliminating Hamas is a worthy goal.
“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, not by me. Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that has been working courageously with us to broker peace, does not advance either Israel’s or America’s goals,” Trump wrote Sept. 9 on Truth Social, adding that he considers Qatar a “close ally” of the United States. He added, “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Anand did not clarify what Canada might do specifically in terms of reevaluating its relationship with Israel but said Ottawa will be looking at “next steps” and focusing on its priority of alleviating civilian suffering in Gaza.
“There are many moving pieces in the Middle East right now. And at the rock bottom, Canada’s position is that we need to work for peace in the Middle East and we need to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Anand said.
