Still, over the past several weeks, Mr. Trudeau has taken a much more critical tone toward Israel, a stance that has opened divisions within the Liberal Party. Three Liberal Party lawmakers voted against the motion.
And from his left, Mr. Trudeau has been criticized by the New Democrats, whose votes he relies on to pass legislation, for not doing more to end Palestinian suffering in the enclave, where more than 30,000 people have been killed and food and medicine are in critically short supply.
The Conservative Party condemned the motion and charged that Mr. Trudeau’s approach had failed Israel and supported terrorism.
“Hamas should be focused on, and not the State of Israel,” Michael Chong, who speaks for the party on foreign affairs, said during the debate.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Joly indicated that several provisions in what the New Democrats had described as “actions to promote peace in the Middle East” were unacceptable to the government, saying that important policy matters could not be changed by an opposition motion.
One of the key sticking points was the New Democrats’ call for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, a position that no Group of 7 nation has adopted.
Other modifications negotiated over the course of the day included adding a call to end the illegal trade in arms to Hamas to a section calling on the government to stop authorizing arms shipments to Israel. Canada is not currently sending weapons to Israel, and Ms. Joly confirmed on Monday that nonlethal military shipments had been suspended.
The motion, describing Gaza as “currently the most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” also called on the government to immediately reinstate funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a step Mr. Trudeau had already taken.
It also called on the government to support the prosecution of all crimes and violations of international law committed in the region; to ensure Canadians trapped in Gaza can reach safety; and to impose sanctions on Israeli officials who incite genocide, while maintaining sanctions on Hamas leaders.
Source Agencies
