Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly will not say if she thinks that the American president Donald Trump offers ethnic cleaning in the Gaza Strip – But she calls her recent “odious” comments.
Trump amazed the leaders of the Middle East and beyond this week when he suggested that the Palestinian territory was eliminated and transformed into a vacation destination belonging to the United States.
The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz says he asked the Israeli soldiers to write a plan to evacuate any Palestinian “who wishes to leave” Gaza for countries like Canada.
Human Rights Watch and similar groups claim that Trump’s plan would constitute ethnic cleaning – a point of view shared by the Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen and the Minister of Justice Arif Virani.
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Asked twice if she agreed, Joly cited Canada’s long-standing position on the Israeli-Palestine conflict and said: “The comments were heinous”.
She said that Palestinians have the right to self-determination and argued that the best future for the Middle East is a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.
“We do not believe in the forced displacement of people and we think that everything we do must be in accordance with international law,” Joly told the Halifax Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
She said that a two-state solution would allow Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel and create more stability in the Middle East.
Joly added that countries should focus on “maximum pressure against Iran” to stop working with Russia and China to sow instability in the region.
– With Michael Macdonald files in Halifax
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
