e-2565 (Foreign affairs)

The humanitarian and security situation in Gaza, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, remains a central preoccupation for the Government of Canada. As part of the funding to respond to COVID-19 announced on April 5, 2020, Canada committed $4 million for United Nations (UN) humanitarian appeals to support the healthcare needs of at-risk Palestinians. On April 23, 2020, Canada also announced its allocation of $18 million in humanitarian assistance to address the urgent priorities identified in the UN’s 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan for the West Bank and Gaza. This two-year funding commitment will help particularly vulnerable Palestinians, such as women and girls, survivors of gender-based violence, and marginalized communities, to access food, health care, water and sanitation services, through experienced UN agencies and civil society organizations. Canadian officials are closely monitoring the situation in the region, and remain closely engaged with the United Nations, other governments and international organizations. Canada continues to call on Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take every step to protect the most vulnerable, including women and children, as they are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Canada remains strongly committed to the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and to a two-state solution achieved through direct negotiations between the parties. This includes Israel’s right to live in peace with its neighbours within secure boundaries and free from terrorism, and the creation of a sovereign, democratic, and territorially contiguous Palestinian state.