OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa has trucks of aid ready to reach desperate Palestinians in Gaza and is counting on Israel to allow them through.
Anand wrote on social media Sunday afternoon that Jordan, which borders Israel and the West Bank, has allowed Canada to "preposition" aid "until such time that Israel will permit it to enter Gaza."
Anand spoke Friday with her Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar "to seek assurances that trucks carrying Canadian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza," she wrote.
Since then, Israel has said it would allow for some humanitarian corridors to be established, so that United Nations groups can deliver aid and so certain countries could conduct airdrops of food.
Israel has restricted aid to Gaza's population of over two million because it says Hamas siphons it off to bolster its rule, without providing evidence. Much of the Palestinian territory's population, squeezed into ever-smaller patches of land, now relies on aid.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed while trying to seek food at sites established by Israel, after it blocked almost all UN programs that had been providing aid across the territory.
The UN World Food Program said it had enough food in, or on its way, to feed all of Gaza for nearly three months. It has said a third of Gaza's population were not eating for days and nearly half a million people were enduring famine-like conditions.
Gaza saw 63 malnutrition-related deaths in July, including 24 children under 5, the World Health Organization said, arguing the flow of food Sunday was far below enough aid to counter the "current starvation."
Israel has downplayed reports of starvation deaths, and claims the UN has failed to distribute aid.
Israel has also dismissed a joint statement last week by Canada and 25 peer governments, which called for an immediate end to Israel's campaign in Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinain territories. The statement condemned "the drip-feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food."
Sa'ar dismissed the statement as being among "strong diplomatic attacks" that have compromised ceasefire negotiations and emboldened Hamas.
This week, Anand will be in New York for the High-Level Conference on Palestine, an event at the UN convened by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at co-ordinating a way to preserve the two-state solution.
Canada has for decades called for the creation of a Palestinian country existing in peace alongside Israel, and is among many governments who have expressed concern that such a reality is becoming increasingly hard to achieve. Those concerns stem from the expansion of Israeli settlements, Israeli government statements on annexing land and concentrating Palestinians into small areas, and Palestinian militant groups attacking Israelis.
Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the UN, wrote on social media that it's not just Israel that needs to work toward peace.
"Hamas has a role in enabling a solution, as of course Israel does as well. We are all trying to find a result for two states, free the hostages, stop the carnage and resolve the deep divides," he wrote Sunday morning. "The world watches and judges all of us."
Last week France announced it would officially recognize a Palestinian state, following moves last year by Ireland, Norway and Spain.
Ottawa has not outlined what criteria it needs in order to recognize a Palestinian state, but says Canada does intend to eventually do so. Prime Minister Mark Carney said in June that there must be "a Zionist, if you will, Palestinian state that recognizes the right of Israel to exist."
Meanwhile, Anand posted Saturday that Ottawa had "assisted 11 Canadians, children travelling with their mothers, in leaving Gaza safely" on Friday, but she did not provide further detail.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
