Defence Minister Bill Blair says the previous statements from his government about the blast that occurred at a hospital in Gaza will not be pulled after Canadian military intelligence assessed Israel was not involved.
“What was said previously will remain in the public domain,” Mr. Blair said on Oct. 23 when asked about whether a retraction will be made.
“We provided I think a very clear analysis and determination of what we believe happened here,” he added while being pressed by reporters.
Mr. Blair released a
statement on Oct. 21 saying the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command (CFINTCOM) conducted an analysis of the blast that occurred at Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on Oct. 17. It says CFINTCOM determined with a “high degree of confidence” that Israel was not behind the explosion.
“The more likely scenario is that the strike was caused by an errant rocket fired from Gaza,” said Mr. Blair, a conclusion also reached by the governments of
Israel, the United States, and
France.
After the blast took place, authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip laid blame on an Israeli attack and said it caused the death of hundreds of Palestinians.
Shortly after, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the explosion. “International humanitarian and international law needs to be respected in this and in all cases. There are rules around wars and it’s not acceptable,” he
said.
“Bombing a hospital is an unthinkable act, and there is no doubt that doing so is absolutely illegal,”
wrote for her part Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly on X on Oct. 17. The post was still available as of the afternoon of Oct. 23.
Qatari state-funded outlet Al Jazeera initially broadcast the Hamas claims but later released its own
analysis, which concluded there was no Israeli air attack. The outlet instead said a Palestinian rocket was struck by Israel’s air defence Iron Dome system. The system usually seeks to avoid targeting rockets over civilian areas to prevent falling debris from causing casualties.
A large number of rockets fired by Palestinian groups at Israel actually fall into Gaza. Israel Defense Forces
say 5 to 10 percent of such rockets misfire or malfunction. Human Rights Watch also produced a
report on the phenomena after the last conflict between Israel and Hamas in 2021.
No Call for a Ceasefire
The Liberal government has condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israeli civilians and says Israel has the right to defend itself. It has also called for the protection of civilians in Gaza as Israel retaliates.
But the government has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire despite pressure from within the Liberal caucus and its partner the
NDP.
When asked why the Canadian government is not calling for a ceasefire in a virtual press conference from Abu Dhabi on Oct. 23, Ms. Joly responded that Canada is working for peace and stability in the region.
“We have a long-standing position that Israel and the region would benefit from a two-state solution. We have a long-standing position that in all conflicts, at all times, civilians must be protected,” she said.
