Close X
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
ADVT 
National

Airstrikes on aid workers don't 'just happen,' Trudeau says after Netanyahu comments

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Apr, 2024 10:13 AM
  • Airstrikes on aid workers don't 'just happen,' Trudeau says after Netanyahu comments

Attacks on aid workers are not just something that happens in war, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday, slamming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's defence of a deadly airstrike on aid workers in central Gaza on April 1.

Canadian Army veteran Jacob Flickinger, 33, was among those killed while delivering food aid for World Central Kitchen.

Netanyahu said Wednesday the blasts were a tragic accident that will be investigated — but also a consequence of armed conflict.

"This happens in war," Netanyahu said.

At a news conference in Winnipeg Thursday, Trudeau said he had to "directly take issue" with those comments.

"No, it doesn't just happen," Trudeau said. "And it shouldn't just happen when you have aid workers for an extraordinary organization like World Central Kitchen risking their lives every day in an incredibly dangerous place to deliver food to people who are experiencing a horrific humanitarian catastrophe."

World Central Kitchen is demanding a full independent investigation into the attack that killed its workers, including Flickinger, a Palestinian driver, and citizens of Australia, Poland and the United Kingdom. 

They were in a clearly marked aid convoy after delivering 100 tonnes of food to a warehouse in central Gaza when they were hit.

Trudeau said a "fully open, transparent, independent and rapid investigation" is absolutely required.

But he said a ceasefire and a massive influx of humanitarian support is also critical.

"The reality is we need much more humanitarian support to flow into Gaza, much more protection of civilians, of innocents and of aid workers," he said. 

"That's why we need a humanitarian ceasefire. We need for Hamas to lay down its arms. We need for the hostages to be released, and we need a ceasefire to allow this humanitarian catastrophe to end as quickly as possible."

International reaction to the deadly airstrikes has been swift and biting at a time when Israel was already facing sharp criticism for the humanitarian toll of its war in Gaza.

U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak by phone with Netanyahu Thursday. The U.S. has been one of Israel's biggest defenders and earlier this week approved the transfer of additional bombs to the Israeli military.

But Biden has been getting increasingly frustrated with Israel over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, including the limited aid Israel is allowing in and the growing death toll of civilians. On Tuesday he said he was "outraged and heartbroken" over the latest aid worker deaths.

"This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed," he said.

World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés has a friendship with the Bidens and cooked meals at the White House when president Barack Obama was in office. 

Andrés rejects Israel's assertion that it was an accidental attack, saying the charity had clear communication with Israel about when and where the aid workers would be moving.

He said Israel's right to defend itself does not extend to killing innocent people.

Jonathan Duguay, a close friend of Flickinger who was working in Cyprus for World Central Kitchen at the time of the attack, told The Canadian Press in an interview that Flickinger wasn't afraid because the aid deliveries were co-ordinated with Israel's assistance.

"We had an agreement with the IDF," said Duguay. "There was a special route. They knew where we were."

Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defence Force chief of staff, said Wednesday he had received a preliminary report on the strike and insisted the aid workers were not intentionally targeted.

"I want to be very clear — the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification — at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened."

Halevi said World Central Kitchen does important work in difficult conditions and said Israel is "taking immediate actions to ensure that more is done to protect humanitarian aid workers."

"This incident was a grave mistake," Halevi told reporters in a televised address in Israel.

"Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza. We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK. We share in the grief of their families, as well as the entire World Central Kitchen organization, from the bottom of our hearts."

MORE National ARTICLES

Joly to plead for humanitarian pauses as she says time is running out to help in Gaza

Joly to plead for humanitarian pauses as she says time is running out to help in Gaza
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says time is running out to help people in Gaza. In a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto this afternoon, Joly is expected to plead for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow more aid to get into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.

Joly to plead for humanitarian pauses as she says time is running out to help in Gaza

Poilievre calls on Liberals to exempt all forms of home heating from carbon price

Poilievre calls on Liberals to exempt all forms of home heating from carbon price
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberals to exempt all forms of home heating from the carbon price, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an exemption for three years that only applies to home heating oil. The federal government announced last week that it is increasing the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians and lifting the carbon price off home heating oil entirely for the next three years.

Poilievre calls on Liberals to exempt all forms of home heating from carbon price

Cold snap hits BC

Cold snap hits BC
An unseasonable cold snap covering much of the province broke records over the weekend, including one that had been in place for more than a century. Environment Canada reports at least eight new lows for the record books, such as Nelson’s low of at minus 4.9 degrees, exceeding the 4.4 degrees set in 1905.

Cold snap hits BC

BC safety coalition to launch today

BC safety coalition to launch today
A new provincewide public safety coalition that includes community and business groups, citizens and well-known B-C retailers is set to launch today. A statement says the coalition wants governments to work together and act quickly on crime and violence issues in communities across B-C.

BC safety coalition to launch today

Sikh independence vote in B.C.sees thousands turnout amid Canada-India tensions

Sikh independence vote in B.C.sees thousands turnout amid Canada-India tensions
A second referendum on Khalistan — an independent state in India proposed by some Sikhs — was held today at the same Surrey gurdwara where activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in June. Sarbraj Kahlon, news director at Radio Punjab who was at the referendum site, called the latest vote a success after 65,700 people turned out in Surrey Sunday to cast ballots. 

Sikh independence vote in B.C.sees thousands turnout amid Canada-India tensions

Police watchdog asks Crown to consider charges against officers in B.C. shooting

Police watchdog asks Crown to consider charges against officers in B.C. shooting
A statement from B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office says it has submitted a report to the prosecution service for consideration of charges related to the July 2021 incident in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It says an interaction took place between a man and police at the drive-through window of a local business, during which police fired shots and the driver of the vehicle was killed. 

Police watchdog asks Crown to consider charges against officers in B.C. shooting