Trudeau says Canada is ready to ensure success of Gaza ceasefire deal
Prime minister says focus should now shift toward ensuring 2-state solution
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the news of a ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday and said that the focus should now shift toward ensuring a two-state solution.
"Canada stands ready to do whatever it can to ensure the success of this agreement," Trudeau told reporters during an unrelated news conference with Canada's premiers.
"This ceasefire gives us hope. Hope that we can now focus our attention on a true, lasting political solution to this conflict — a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in safety, security and dignity," he said.
The agreement comes more than 15 months into a war that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed more than 1,200 people and left about 250 others taken hostage.
Canada has long called for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an urgent flow of humanitarian aid. The country joined Australia and New Zealand in July to demand a ceasefire, saying the countries were "unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas" but that civilians in Gaza "cannot be made to pay the price."
Last year, Canada also voted in favour of a non-binding United Nations resolution calling for a humanitarian pause — representing a shift away from its long-standing practice of voting with Israel on major resolutions at the UN.
The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States.
The deal will go into effect on Sunday, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a Wednesday news conference in Doha, where negotiations were taking place.
The complex accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Phase 1 of the deal, which will span 42 days, will include the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50.
Negotiations on implementing the second phase will begin by the 16th day of Phase 1 and it is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The third phase is expected to address the return of all remaining bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by envoys of both outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump.
Biden confirmed the ceasefire deal Wednesday, adding that all American hostages will be released in the first phase of the ceasefire.
"Fighting in Gaza will stop, and soon the hostages return home to their families," he said.
Israel has said roughly 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, but it is unclear how many are alive.
The Health Ministry in Gaza has said Israel's attacks have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, making it the deadliest war in decades of conflict between the two. Israel's campaign has also pushed most of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes and left most of the coastal enclave, including its health-care infrastructure, in ruins.
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With files from Reuters and The Associated Press