ottawa –
The Prime Minister today expressed his condolences to the families of Canadians killed in the ongoing fighting in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Canada’s call for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, speaking to reporters at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos.
International Affairs Canada said officials have been in contact with the families of those who died, but authorities have not released their identities.
Two other Canadians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon in late September, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate.
Global Affairs says it has helped more than 1,050 Canadians, permanent residents and their immediate families leave Lebanon on chartered flights, and urges people to leave if possible.
There are more than 25,000 Canadians registered in Lebanon, but the government said it believes there are as many as 45,000 Canadians in the country.
“My heart goes out to the families of the Canadians who were murdered, and to the families of all those whose loved ones in our communities are affected by the ongoing violence,” Trudeau said.
“We need to end that violence. We need ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, we need to get more humanitarian aid, we need to see the release of hostages, we need to move towards a two-state solution. We need to find a reliable path.”
Canadians Hussein Tabaja and Daad Tabaja were killed in an airstrike on September 25th. His son Kamal said he was stuck in traffic for hours trying to escape the violence in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities said Thursday that 22 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut.
The airstrike was the deadliest attack on central Beirut in more than a year of war, hitting two homes in an area swollen with refugees fleeing Israeli shelling across the country. .
Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and Israeli media reported that the attack was aimed at killing the group’s top security official, Wafik Safa. Almanar said Safa was not in either building at the time. The Israeli military has not commented on the report.
After a year of gunfire between the rivals, Israel has escalated its operations against Hezbollah, with heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and ground incursions on the border.
On the same day as the Beirut explosion, Israeli forces opened fire on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, wounding two peacekeepers from Indonesia, drawing widespread condemnation.
In support of Hamas and the Palestinians, Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, triggering Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.
Israel has said its intensified campaign in recent weeks aims to drive Hezbollah from its borders and allow tens of thousands of its citizens who have fled the region to return home.
More than 2,100 Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters, civilians and medical workers, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past year, more than two-thirds of them in the past few weeks.
Hezbollah attacks have killed 29 civilians and 39 Israeli soldiers in northern Israel since October 2023 and in southern Lebanon since Israel launched its ground invasion on September 30. So far, Israeli forces have been operating in a narrow area of several kilometers along the line. border.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
— With files from The Associated Press
