Nadav Steinman: Canada needs a more balanced approach to the Israel-Hamas war
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney, along with his counterparts in Britain and France, issued a joint statement that included a call for Hamas to release the hostages who are still being held in Gaza. That appeal was welcome, but it underscored a broader concern: Canada's policy toward the Israel-Hamas war has often seemed incomplete and, at times, unbalanced.
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To date, Canada has shown support for getting humanitarian aid to the population in Gaza, rightly expressed concern over civilian casualties and called for restraint on all sides.
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Yet in doing so, the government has too often hesitated to acknowledge the full context of the conflict — including the rockets fired by Hamas, its refusal to accept the terms of a ceasefire and its deeply embedded terror infrastructure that intentionally puts civilians in harm's way.
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Oct. 7, 2023, marked one of the darkest days in recent history. On that morning, Hamas terrorists carried out a brutal assault on Israeli civilians — murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 251, including women, children and foreign nationals. Among the dead were Canadian citizens. This was not a military operation — it was an act of terrorism by a designated terrorist group.
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Since then, Israel has been engaged in a military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas's capabilities, rescuing its citizens and restoring security. The campaign has unfolded in a densely populated region, with Hamas operating from within schools, hospitals and homes.
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The human cost has been immense. But judging Israel's actions without fully considering the tactics of Hamas — and the extraordinary complexity of this urban conflict — misses the broader picture.
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Canada's response has reflected genuine concern for civilians, but it has at times conveyed an uneven message. The joint statement, for example, rightly called for the hostages to be released, but did not include a broader condemnation of Hamas's continued aggression.
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This imbalance has not gone unnoticed in Ottawa. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has emphasized that, 'Threatening Israel with sanctions and 'further concrete actions' while a terrorist group on their borders holds their citizens hostage and refuses to stop attacking Israel is wrong.'
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