Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 4th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Good morning, everyone. I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 11 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders.

Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the committee is meeting to receive an update on the situation in Gaza.

I'd like to welcome our witnesses, who are available for one hour. By the way, as the amended notice of meeting indicates, this will be only a one-hour committee meeting.

From the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, we have Alexandre Lévêque, assistant deputy minister, Europe, Middle East and Arctic branch; Rebecca Netley, legal adviser and director general, international law bureau; Tara Carney, director general, humanitarian assistance bureau; and Hong Won Yu, director, humanitarian policy division.

Welcome to you all. Up to five minutes will be given for opening remarks, after which we will proceed to rounds of questions.

I now invite Monsieur Lévêque to make an opening statement of up to five minutes.

Merci beaucoup.

[Alexandre Lévêque, Assistant Deputy Minister, Europe, Middle East and Arctic Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and honourable committee members. We appreciate your time today, all the more so knowing that you have many other preoccupations and affairs to deal with. Nonetheless, thank you for the invitation to provide an update on the situation in Gaza.

After over two years of devastating conflict, the current ceasefire and the U.S.-led comprehensive peace plan present a critical opportunity to alleviate widespread suffering, lay the foundation for recovery and secure lasting peace.

On October 10, 2025, the U.S.-negotiated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into force.

The agreement was reached following the unrelenting mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States. The government welcomes those efforts and President Trump's comprehensive peace plan.

The first phase of the peace plan has resulted in the release of all living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and a rapid increase in humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.

The ceasefire remains fragile. It is vital that the parties fully uphold the agreement, refrain from all hostilities and engage constructively on subsequent phases. The crucial next steps are for Hamas to return the remains of all deceased hostages and to follow through on its commitment to transfer power, and for Israel to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian assistance deliveries and to remain withdrawn behind agreed-upon lines. Any escalation could jeopardize prospects for peace.

This is a unique and critical moment that must be seized to, one, rapidly scale up and sustain the delivery of life-saving assistance into Gaza; two, support efforts to bring the stability and security required to help Gazans recover and rebuild; and three, support the Palestinian Authority's reform agenda, enabling it to eventually reassume governance responsibilities in Gaza. Canada is presently acting on each of these imperatives. We have deployed civilian and military personnel to the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center, the CMCC, to monitor the ceasefire and help implement the peace plan.

Since October 2023, Canada has scaled up its international assistance to more than $400 million to address the needs in Palestine. That includes more than $270 million in humanitarian aid delivered through the United Nations, or UN; the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; and international non-governmental organizations, or NGOs.

Canada's humanitarian partners are working under extremely difficult conditions. Humanitarian and commercial trucks are starting to enter Gaza, but access issues persist. Restrictions, including complex registration requirements for international NGOs, are major barriers. Canada is on the ground to support efforts to address those issues.

Canada is also working closely with international partners on security and stabilization. This includes the establishment of a temporary UN-mandated international stabilization force and the establishment of transitional governance by a Palestinian technocratic committee. The needs will be immense. The scale of destruction in Gaza is staggering. Helping Gazans recover will require an unprecedented mobilization of resources, coordination and international solidarity.

We are actively exploring how to support these efforts in close coordination with Canadian and international partners. We look forward to engaging at the upcoming recovery conference in Egypt that is expected to take place later in November. We must have an eye to the future governance of Gaza. The government has been clear that Hamas, a listed terrorist organization in Canada, must disarm and play no role in Palestine's future governance. Canada has issued four rounds of sanctions against Hamas since its brutal attacks of October 7, 2023.

We are committed to strengthening the Palestinian Authority's reform and capacity-building efforts to enable it to eventually reclaim its governance responsibilities in Gaza and to ensure that Palestinians are full participants in implementing the next phases of the peace plan.

Canada has long supported the two-state solution as the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We remain deeply convinced that efforts to achieve lasting peace and security must work toward that goal.

Thank you. We will be happy to take your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much, Monsieur Lévêque, for your remarks.

I will now open the floor for questions, beginning with MP Kramp-Neuman.

You have six minutes.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you very much to the witnesses for being here today.

In your opening remarks, you mentioned that we're in a unique and critical moment. I'd like to preface my comments by reiterating that I think we are all here furiously advocating for peace between the State of Israel and the fundamentalist Islamist terrorist organization currently wreaking havoc in Gaza, as well as peace in the broader conflict between Israel and the recently recognized Palestinian state.

We believe a two-state solution with elected democratic bodies that respect the rights and freedoms of not just their own citizens but especially each other's is absolutely paramount to achieve this. I do, however, have a couple of questions on points of clarification on the government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood at this particular juncture and around what that looks like from a Canadian perspective.

To start, who does the Government of Canada recognize as the legitimate sovereign over the Gaza Strip, that being area A, area B, area C and East Jerusalem?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you for the question and for the sentiments on the prospects for peace.

I think the short answer to governance in Gaza is that it now suffers from an immense void. Hamas and its security forces, for a lack of a better term, continue to control a portion of the strip, and of course the Israel Defense Forces occupy the other half. There is very little governance, and the Government of Canada currently does not recognize Hamas as a legitimate governing authority. The work that is—

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

If I may, what does the Government of Canada then recognize as the capital of the Palestinian state?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

That is also a question of disagreement and reflection. Canada has traditionally not pronounced itself on this, and the position of the government is that this is something that should be decided on through consultations and negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis in the future.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Perfect. Thank you.

Moving on to conditions attached to the actual statehood recognition, in the statement where the Prime Minister recognized Palestinian statehood, he wrote:

The Palestinian Authority has provided direct commitments to Canada and the international community on much-needed reforms, including to fundamentally reform its governance, to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.

What specific direct commitments to Canada did the Palestinian Authority give?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

All of the above. These commitments were made in writing by the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. There were commitments to elections, commitments to reforms on governance, commitments on education reform and a variety of legal reforms in the Palestinian Authority.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Did these fundamental reforms include guarantees for a continued suspension of the Palestinian Authority's martyr fund, including any direct or indirect alternatives or attempts to rebrand?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Yes, absolutely, both explicitly and in practice, as we have seen already some progress being made in the transformation of that fund to turn it into a more universally recognized, let's just say, process of welfare support for certain families.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Okay. For clarity, can you confirm that the call by the Prime Minister for demilitarization is for the entire Palestinian state, including the Palestinian Authority and any militant groups operating in their territory?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

That was the predicate on which the decision was made, and that is indeed what the Prime Minister is expecting.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Are you aware of any deadlines imposed on the demilitarization of Palestine by the Palestinian [Inaudible—Editor] in exchange for statehood recognition?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Pardon me, can you repeat the beginning of the question?

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Were there any deadlines imposed for the demilitarization?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

No strict deadlines were imposed.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Was any assessment done on their ability to demilitarize?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I would say that this is going to be a work in progress and something that will happen over time. The assessment is that it can be done if there is a general push by the international community to keep our collective attention on the situation in Palestine. As long as the reform programs and the support for governance in Palestine are in place, then yes, the assessment is that it is possible.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Let's fast-forward to January 1, 2027. What happens if January 1, 2027 comes around and open, fair and free elections have not happened? Will Canada de-recognize Palestinian statehood if they do not hold open, fair and free elections in 2026?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

That's an excellent question.

My understanding of international law is that, once a state is recognized, it cannot be unrecognized. This is a decision that happens once, which means that, after that, the Government of Canada engages and interacts with the government of Palestine as it would with any other country, which means that the levers at our disposal as a country and as a diplomatic corps and foreign policy are the same as with any other country.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Did the government—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

We are out of time, Madam.

Next is Rob Oliphant for six minutes.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for coming today and for your work in this ongoing, difficult conflict and humanitarian crisis.

I want to follow up on Ms. Kramp-Neuman's question and talk about the difference between recognizing a state and recognizing a government.

It is my understanding that Canada does not recognize governments ever, but we do recognize states. I just want to make sure that I am correct in understanding that.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

That is correct.