After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Israel for its efforts to target Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, underneath which reportedly lies a command headquarters of the terrorist group Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back hard, pointing out the atrocities of Hamas and the care Israel has taken to try to keep Palestinian citizens out of harm’s way.
“The human tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza is heartwrenching, especially the suffering we see in and around Al-Shifa hospital,” Trudeau said, ignoring reports, including from the Biden administration, that Hamas has located their headquarters under the hospital in violation of international law.
“I have been clear that the price of justice cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians,” Trudeau continued. “Even wars have rules; all innocent life is equal in worth, Israeli and Palestinian. I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint. The world is watching on TV, on social media; we’re hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who’ve lost their parents. The world is witnessing this; the killing of women, children, of babies. This has to stop.”
The Washington Post explains concerning international humanitarian laws, “Using a hospital for military activities, personnel or equipment is prohibited. However, when a hospital is used for military purposes, it loses its protection from attack and can become a lawful military objective.”
The Biden administration has publicly confirmed U.S. intelligence reports that Hamas is using the Al-Shifa hospital as cover for its terror operation, including installing a “command node” under the hospital.
“We have information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said this week. “A U.S. official with knowledge of American intelligence says Hamas has a command node under the Al-Shifa hospital, uses fuel intended for it and its fighters regularly cluster in and around Gaza’s largest hospital,” CNN noted on Monday.
Netanyahu responded Tuesday to Trudeau’s criticism of Israel’s handling of the war against the terror group.
“It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu retorted. “While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way. Israel provides civilians in Gaza humanitarian corridors and safe zones, Hamas prevents them from leaving at gunpoint. It is Hamas not Israel that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime — targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians. The forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas barbarism.”
Justin Trudeau, in an intoned voice and citing reports from Hamas, warns Israel to stand down.
Benjamin Netanyahu responds to Justin. https://t.co/8ePGmNoMx0 pic.twitter.com/GfjthgWIdk
— CañadaRecord (@CanadaRecord) November 15, 2023
It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust.
While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing…
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 15, 2023
Roughly two weeks after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, Trudeau, who had publicly criticized the state of Israel and expressed sympathies for Palestinians in the past, issued a tweet saying that his government was “here” for Palestinian, Arab, and black Muslim communities.
“As members of the Palestinian, Arab, and Black Muslim communities gathered for prayer yesterday, I wanted them to know this: We know you’re worried and hurting. We’re here for you. We will not stop advocating for civilians to be protected and for international law to be upheld,” he declared.
Trudeau has a history of siding with Palestinian terrorists over Israel. In May 2018, Hamas in Gaza organized protests in which they had a multitude of their members demonstrating at the border in order to initiate conflict with Israel, likely so that Hamas members could ultimately infiltrate Israel and implement terrorist attacks. Hamas later admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians reported killed during the Gaza border riots were members of the Islamist terrorist group.
After the cynically manipulated event caused international outrage against Israel, Yoram Schweitzer, an expert on international terrorism, wrote in the Jerusalem Post:
The preaching and shock in the international media are accompanied by horrifying images framed under misleading headlines. Such images create a partial reality, ignoring the reality outside the focused frame as well as the wider context. They do not express the danger inherent in mass demonstrations by civilians, including men, women and young boys and girls, and lead to misunderstandings about the actual danger to human life inherent in “cold” weapons. Behind them are well-armed squads with a clear intention to exploit the chaos to shoot, plant bombs or kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians.
But Trudeau issued a statement condemning Israel:
Canada deplores and is gravely concerned by the violence in the Gaza Strip that has led to a tragic loss of life and injured countless people. We are appalled that Dr. Tarek Loubani, a Canadian citizen, is among the wounded – along with so many unarmed people, including civilians, members of the media, first responders, and children … Reported use of excessive force and live ammunition is inexcusable.
Trudeau was slammed by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which launched a petition demanding the Canadian government reiterate its previous condemnation of Hamas as a terrorist organization, which Trudeau refused to do.