Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire deal after 15 months of conflict polarized Montreal

Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to pause the fighting in Gaza and secure the hostages' return, possibly bringing an end to 15 months of conflict that quickly became one the most divisive social issues in Montreal's recent memory, with protests, encampments, violence and vandalism.

While it left few visible marks, the war shook the city, home to significant Jewish and Palestinian communities. On Wednesday, Montrealers and Quebecers began to reflect on the conflict's impact — both in the Middle East and here at home. 

"It's ushered in, I would say, an almost unprecedented dynamic of divisiveness and polarization here in Canada, as well as internationally," said Irwin Cotler, the international chair of the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.

Conflict in the Middle East is not new, and Cotler is all too familiar with how those hostilities spill over into Canada, recalling in an interview with CBC News the tensions he experienced during his time as the federal minister of justice.

And since this most recent conflict began, he said, there has been an "unprecedented explosion of antisemitism."

"As we've learned only too painfully and too well that while it begins with Jews, it doesn't end with Jews," said Cotler. "So for the sake of the democratic and community well-being in Canada, I'm hoping that this agreement, and if it holds, will also assist in that regard as well."

Mahmoud Khalil attended a pro-Palestinian rally in front of the U.S. consulate in downtown Montreal Wednesday evening, speaking to CBC News while demonstrators played music, waved flags and danced in celebration behind him. 

"Today, the Palestinian resistance comes out victorious in front of the entire world," said Khalil.

"Today, we salute the Palestinian people who have been patient for 15 months, blockaded with no food, water, electricity or humanitarian aid while the entire world watched. While the Canadian government funded this genocide."

Demonstrations, violence in Montreal

Throughout the conflict, large-scale demonstrations flooded Montreal streets, squares and campuses, with one side calling for an end to violence in Gaza and the other calling for hostages to be released. 

Soon after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, hateful graffiti was spray-painted near Saint-Léonard Islamic centre. A month later, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Jewish community centre in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. 

A few weeks later, Montreal police's arson unit was investigating a fire at Congregation Beth Tikvah in the West Island. In the following months, Montreal Jewish schools were targeted by gunfire.

WATCH | Quebecers react to ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas: 

At times, protesters would clash, prompting police or even legal intervention. In March 2024, a Quebec court temporarily prohibited protests near several Jewish institutions in Côte-des-Neiges–NDG following back-to-back demonstrations.

The McGill University pro-Palestinian encampment lasted from April to July of 2024, as protestors called on the school to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Shorter-lived encampments cropped up at other Quebec universities during that time.

In November 2024, at least three people were arrested after protests by pro-Palestinian and anti-NATO demonstrators turned violent, with protesters throwing objects at police, lighting two vehicles on fire and breaking windows.

Looking back on the good and the grief

As much divisiveness as there was, the war has also galvanized Montrealers into helping support those affected by the conflict. 

Jaoudat Abouazza, a Palestinian-Montrealer who has family in Gaza, mobilized his community to send containers of food to the enclave. He said he has received videos from children there sending grateful messages. 

"They say, 'thanks Canada.' This is Canada. This is what I want from Canada," he said.

On Wednesday, Abouazza said he celebrated the news of the ceasefire. Since the start of the conflict, some of his loved ones have gone missing and stopped responding to messages, he said. 

Raquel Look, whose son, Alexandre Look, was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, said she felt no closure at the news of the ceasefire. 

Her family remains broken by their grief and traumatized from witnessing Alexandre's final moments. He video called them as the attack was ongoing and tried to comfort his mother until gunfire rang out and his family knew he was gone. 

"It's unimaginable and it was in the most horrific way. We were all on the phone and we heard everything, the shots," Raquel said.

She says the scar left by his absence will never leave them.

"We're just not the same family that we were," she said. "We were a beautiful family of four and it's impossible to get used to being just the three of us."