Foreign Affairs committee  I'm certain that there has been. I have to admit that it's a bit difficult for me in the flow of everything to be able to recall whether this would have been by tweet, but obviously, any deaths of international humanitarian personnel are of great concern to us.

Foreign Affairs committee  I have no doubt that there are significant casualties on the Palestinian side. I cannot vouch for any numbers that are out there. There's a wide range, but the fact of this extraordinary number of Palestinian civilian casualties is our concern.

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay, you mean a screen going on of the humanitarian aid to make sure that there's nothing...? Yes, that is happening.

Foreign Affairs committee  There are several parties to this. On one side, the border is controlled by Egypt. It goes from Egypt into Rafah. On the border going from Gaza into Egypt in the other direction, it's controlled by the local authority, which would be Hamas. They control the border there. We have challenges in terms of coordinating access.

Foreign Affairs committee  Egypt is not the sole deciding party, but Egypt is the party that must decide to—

Foreign Affairs committee  That's Hamas, the local authority in Gaza.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sorry...?

Foreign Affairs committee  I would have to get back to you on that. I do not know the answer as to exactly who is involved in that.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think Canada has been very clear and continues to be very clear that there needs to be a political horizon. The political horizon that has been laid out by the international community in UN Security Council resolutions and other frameworks is the two-state solution. This is a solution, though, that would need to be negotiated between the parties.

Foreign Affairs committee  The figures that you're citing are horrifying. These are people. We are very concerned with the humanitarian impact that this conflict is having. We're very concerned about the impact on civilians. This is what we're talking about with our partners internationally. This is what we're talking about with the players to try to make sure that the rules of war and international humanitarian law are respected in this conflict and that civilians are protected to the maximum extent.

Foreign Affairs committee  I find it a little hard to address hypotheticals. What you described has been done in the past and would be considered.

Foreign Affairs committee  I have not heard of any partners discussing delivery by sea. The discussions are exclusively focused around the Rafah crossing at this point. The two Israeli crossings into Gaza are closed and are being blockaded, as you know, so Rafah remains the crossing point of choice to be able to deliver aid.

Foreign Affairs committee  The pre-positioning of aid by international partners is being done primarily at the El Arish airport, which I referred to before. That's 50 kilometres away from Rafah. It's a good place to muster to be ready for the moment the border crossing opens to greater effect. We had 20 trucks that went on the first day, and there were 14 on the second.

Foreign Affairs committee  The Rafah border crossing remains the only means to get much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. The two Israeli crossing points into Gaza are closed for security reasons, and our focus has exclusively been on the Rafah crossing. That has required a variety of conversations. You understand, of course, that at a border crossing, you have the crossing going out and you have the no-man's land in between the crossing points and then the crossing going in.

Foreign Affairs committee  We are indeed a steadfast supporter of the International Court of Justice as the principal legal organ of the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court as a founding member of that, and we recognize the important role it can play in the peaceful settlement of disputes.