Mr. Speaker, although this petition is dated, it is timely. The petitioners say that they are personally moved by the heartbreaking violence that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people in Gaza and Palestine due to the Israel-Hamas war between October 23 and December 24, 2024. They say that across Gaza, more than 40,000 souls were lost, with approximately 70% of those being women and children. In the same period, 1,706 Israelis were reported dead. They claim that the conflict has not spared the occupied West Bank either, where the war has claimed the lives of 479 Palestinians, including 116 children and nine Israelis.
We know these numbers are dated, but the petitioners ask that Canada take significant measures to, as it has in the past, impose a two-way embargo on arms between Canada and Israel; investigate whether Canadian weapons or weapon components have been used against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including during the current war on Gaza; review all military and security co-operation between Canada and Israel; and, finally, close loopholes that allow the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel through the United States.