Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – A Quebec Liberal MP is issuing an emotional plea for peace in Israel and a viable Palestinian state as deaths in the Gaza Strip “mount by the minute.”
Sameer Zuberi battled tears this morning and spoke about the “butchery” of innocent children as he made his way into the weekly Liberal cabinet meeting.
Zuberi says Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was an “abhorrent” act that caused the latest crisis and escalated tensions that have existed in the region for decades.
But Zuberi says people in the Gaza Strip died before the latest conflict escalation, too, and the only way to save innocent lives is for bombs to stop falling.
Ontario Liberal MP Shafqat Ali says a ceasefire must be called and new talks launched to bring an end to the conflict.
The Liberal MPs are speaking a day after news that more than 500 people died at a hospital in Gaza, after it was hit by a rocket that Israel’s government says was a misfire by Palestinian militants.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2023.
