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At United Nations, Canada to speak about humanitarian pauses in Israel-Hamas war

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Oct, 2023 10:35 AM

Canada's ambassador to the United Nations is expected to speak later today about a UN effort to establish a temporary pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Bob Rae will take the podium on Day 2 of a special emergency session of the UN General Assembly as delegates debate a draft resolution calling for a pause in hostilities.

The resolution also calls on the two sides to comply with international humanitarian law and to allow essential supplies and services into the war-torn region.

Canada is also proposing an amendment to the resolution that would expressly condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that triggered the latest crisis.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada supports the idea of "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid into the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of civilians and foreign nationals.

A major humanitarian crisis is now blooming in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people who face food, water and fuel shortages.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, called it "outrageous" that the resolution doesn't call out Hamas by name, nor mention the fact that the group is holding more than 200 hostages.

"These are omissions of evil, and they give cover to and they empower Hamas's brutality. No member state should allow that to happen," Thomas-Greenfield said.

"That is why we have co-sponsored an amendment put forward by Canada that corrects these glaring omissions."

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