About 300 delegates are gathering today in Halifax for the city's annual forum on global security. Most of the sessions are about the war in Ukraine, but Hamas's brutal attack on Israel and the resulting Israeli military's invasion of the Gaza Strip will be part of the talks. The first plenary on Friday will include Canadian Defence Minister and conference host Bill Blair. Blair speaks with reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons, in Ottawa, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
HALIFAX – The war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East are the result of a breakdown in international law in an increasingly dangerous and violent world, Defence Minister Bill Blair told a global security conference Friday.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 are overt challenges to the international, rule-based order, he said.
“In the Middle East, we have seen innocent civilians caught up in a war they did not ask for,” the minister said, noting Hamas’s “slaughter” of 1,200 Israelis and its taking of over 200 hostages. While defending Israel’s right to self defence, Blair said, “all civilians must be protected and the law of armed conflict must be protected.”
Blair is among 300 delegates from around the world attending the three-day Halifax International Security Forum, an annual event dedicated to strengthening co-operation among democratic nations. Among those expected to speak to the delegates is Ehud Barak, Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001.
Most of the sessions at the conference will be focusing on the war in Ukraine even though much of the world’s attention has shifted to the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s invasion, in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, has killed more than 11,400 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to Palestinian health authorities.
When asked if support for Ukraine’s fight is dwindling among its allies, Blair said that wasn’t the case.
“I do appreciate that there are political discussions taking place in a number of our allied countries, but I have seen absolute “¦ unequivocal support for Ukraine among those allies,” he said.
It’s important, Blair added, to remember that while Ukraine’s allies are providing support through missions and money, “(Ukrainians) are fighting this battle with their blood.”
“They are fighting on all of our behalf against a very determined challenge to the international rules-based order,” he said, adding that the Ukrainian military is now having a tough time consolidating gains made last summer.
“Right now, it seems to be moving into – I’m not going to use the word stalemate – but a more static battle environment. It remains to be seen what can unlock that,” he said.
Blair was also asked if he was concerned about Ukraine losing support from the United States.
“We haven’t seen a waning of that interest or support …. They have demonstrated remarkable leadership,” he said, adding that he believes U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has show “unwavering” support for Ukraine.
Also scheduled to attend the event are United States senators James Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, and U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery Penny Pritzker.
Forum president Peter Van Praagh said he deliberately chose to keep the focus of the event on Ukraine, not the war in Gaza, because switching the theme would have played into the agenda of non-democratic nations.
“Now (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is working to shift the world’s democracies’ attention – and their generous support for Ukraine – to other theatres,” he said Thursday. “The world’s democracies must come together to stop this multi-front attack.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2023.
