Canada will support 'accountability system' to investigate Israeli military conduct, says Joly

Canada eventually will support an “accountability system” to investigate Israel’s military conduct during its war against Hamas, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday.

Joly also called for an end to the violence in Gaza but stopped short of demanding a ceasefire. She said Canada was still looking at different versions of an expected ceasefire resolution that the United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote on Tuesday.

Following the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, the Canadian government has routinely said it supports Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law.

On Monday, Power & Politics host David Cochrane asked Joly how Canada views Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in light of aid groups saying Israel is in violation of international law and the mounting death toll inside Gaza.

“I think at the core of our foreign policy since the Second World War there has been Israel’s right to exist, which is fundamental, and at the same time, protection of civilians. And clearly there are tensions between these two priorities right now,” said Joly.

“Eventually, of course, we will support any form of accountability systems … at the international level that will look into this issue.”

“I think that how Israel is conducting itself in Gaza is important. Why? Because we need to make sure that Palestinian civilians are more protected. At this point we are at 18,000 Palestinian civilians and military [combatants] that have been killed — 70 per cent of these people were women and children. So it is very very concerning what is going on right now,” Joly added.

CBC News reached out to Israel’s mission to Canada about Joly’s remarks. The embassy declined to comment.

The Gaza health authority — which is controlled by Hamas, a listed terrorist entity in Canada — reported Monday that more than 18,200 Gazans have been killed since Oct. 7. The authority does not break down the death toll between civilian and military combatants.

In November, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Volker Türk said both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes. He pointed to the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 and what he called the “collective punishment” imposed by Israel on Palestinian civilians.

Israel denies it is violating international law and argues its military does not deliberately target civilians. Israel says it’s Hamas that puts civilians in harm’s way by operating out of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals or schools.

Will Canada vote in favour of a ceasefire at the UN?

The UN General Assembly is likely to vote Tuesday on a non-binding draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

This follows the U.S. decision on Friday to veto a resolution at the UN Security Council that called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

“We are are still looking at the different versions of the resolution. We are negotiating. There are different amendments that are being discussed. So I will have more to say tomorrow on this very issue,” Joly said when asked how Canada would vote on that resolution.

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

“We need to make sure that the violence must stop. The cycle of violence is not helping Israel’s long-term security and we need to make sure that the way that Israel is conducting itself is in line with international law.”

In October, Canada abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution that called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” after failing to have the resolution amended to include an explicit condemnation of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.