Foreign Affairs committee  We don't have a presence at the Rafah crossing, nor do our like-minded colleagues. It's a non-permissive environment and we require the permission of the Egyptians to be there, but international organizations are organizing there and in the El Arish airport, 50 kilometres away from the border, to organize the conveyance of humanitarian assistance across the border.

Foreign Affairs committee  We are still without an announcement of exactly which partners those are, but we have a plan in place that will be announced shortly. These are trusted partners. You can probably come up with a pretty good answer to that by looking at the appeals that have been issued. We've responded to the international appeals.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. It's a thoughtful question. I appreciate the impact this conflict is having on Canadians. We see it among our staff members at our embassies and our local staff as well, and we feel for them, evidently. I am not in a position to judge on “collective punishment” as a term.

Foreign Affairs committee  We are undertaking conversations with all of our partners in the region as Global Affairs Canada. We are hearing from the neighbouring countries. We are receiving reporting from our missions on the ground, including the mission in Ramallah, about the circumstances as they occur.

Foreign Affairs committee  There have been a number of propositions that have been put out about how to generate safe zones and humanitarian corridors, including ceasefires. These conversations are ongoing at various levels. For Canada, the question is, what is going to be most effective in the short term in getting assistance in to the people who need it while also respecting Israel's right to defend itself while rockets continue to fly?

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned earlier, various proposals are being looked at, including humanitarian corridors and a ceasefire. We will call upon all parties to continue to respect international humanitarian law. We will call upon all parties to protect civilians. We are deeply concerned, evidently, about the humanitarian situation in this region.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not in a position to assess whether this is a violation of international humanitarian law. We do have grave concern for the deteriorating conditions in Gaza. We feel it is our place, alongside our partners in the international community, to continue to raise the message of the need to protect civilians and the need to respect and uphold the principles of international law.

Foreign Affairs committee  Canada has not taken a position on that. We're not in a position to determine that.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's a question of proportionality and international law that I believe you're referring to here. We can return to you in writing with some further detail on that. These are questions on which I gain the good advice of our colleagues who work in our legal department. There are rules of war laid out in terms of the protection of civilians and proportionality, and those are the reference points.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. The government is also concerned about the impact of this conflict on innocent civilians, including children, and about protecting them. Our priority is to keep people informed of what we can do. With a contribution of $60 million so far, we are among the major contributors.

Foreign Affairs committee  What makes the situation so difficult in Gaza is that fuel is needed to purify water, and we don't have any at the moment. We are working with our partners in the region, with the Egyptian government, with the Israeli government, with international organizations and with other key partners internationally to impress on the parties to this conflict the need to be able to get life-saving humanitarian access in, including access to water.

Foreign Affairs committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to brief the committee today on recent events in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Developments are moving quite quickly. I will focus on how the conflict is evolving and on Canadian approaches, but I will avoid discussing hypothetical and future-oriented scenarios.