441-02539 (Foreign affairs)

Whereas:

• Israel's war with Hamas killed almost 20,000 people in Gaza in the two months between October 7 and December 18, 2023, with about 70% of them women and children;

• The civilian casualty rate in this war is significantly higher than the average rate in all the conflicts around the world during the 20th century;

• In the occupied West Bank, 2023 has been the deadliest year on record since the UN began reporting in 2005, with at least 477 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire;

• The value of Canada's arms trade with Israel has been accelerating in the last few years, and in 2022 Canada transferred over $20m in arms to Israel, the third-highest level on record, even adjusted for inflation;

• Canada has a legal responsibility under the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), and its harmonized domestic legislation, to ensure its arms exports are not used in the commission of serious violations of international law, or serious violence against women and children; and

• In the past, Canada has imposed a two-way arms embargo on Israel as a response to violence against Palestinian civilians; notably, in the late 1980s during the first intifada.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

• 1. Impose a two-way embargo on arms between Canada and Israel;

• 2. Investigate whether Canadian weapons or weapons components have been used against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including during the current war on Gaza;

• 3. Review all military and security cooperation between Canada and Israel; and

• 4. Close loopholes that allow the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel through the United States.