Trudeau: Israel must stop killing babies. Netanyahu: Hamas beheads them

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call for the IDF to stop killing women and babies during its military campaign in Gaza earned him a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who stressed that Hamas has beheaded babies in Israel.

“The human tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza is heart wrenching, especially the suffering we have seen in and around the Al-Shifa Hospital” in Gaza City, he said during a press conference in the Western province of British Columbia.

He spoke as the IDF drew sharp criticism from the international commuting for its entry into Al-Shifa hospital to destroy the Hamas infrastructure and tunnels embedded within it.

Canada's strong support of Israel amid the war with Hamas

Canada and Trudeau’s government have been staunch supporters of Israel, including its military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza after the terror group infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,200 people and seizing over 239 hostages.

He has also stood strong against antisemitism, but he has been under pressure from pro-Palestinian supporters to call for a ceasefire, due to the rising death toll in Gaza. Hamas has asserted that over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave in war related violence.

A video circulating on social media shows protestors surrounding Trudeau in a Vancouver restaurant shouting, “shame on you,” “you have blood on your hands,” “ceasefire now,” and “genocide.”

On Tuesday Trudeau told reporters that ‘I have been clear that the price of justice can not be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians. Even wars have rules, all innocent life is equal in worth, Israeli and Palestinian. 

“I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint,” Trudeau said. 

He reminded Israel that “the world is watching. on TV, On social media. We e are hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents,” he said.

"The world is witnessing this killing of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop," Trudeau stated.

Trudeau also said Hamas needed to stop using Palestinians as human shields and should release all its hostages.

Around 350 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and family members had been evacuated from Gaza, he added.

Last week Trudeau called for a significant humanitarian pause in the conflict to allow for the release of all hostages and the delivery of enough aid to address civilian needs.

He spoke on the same day that the remains of Canadian Israeli Vivian Silver, a veteran and well know peace activist, was identified as one of the October 7 victims of the Hamas massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri where she lived.  

Netanyahu shot back on social media that, “It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust. 

“While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way,” Netanyahu said.

He stressed that “Israel provides civilians in Gaza humanitarian corridors and safe zones, Hamas prevents them from leaving at gunpoint. 

“It is Hamas not Israel that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime - targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians. 

“The forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas barbarism,” Netanyahu added.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid who heads the Yesh Atid party said that “Israel is defending itself in difficult conditions against a brutal terrorist organization while trying to rescue babies, children, women and men who are being held hostage by Hamas-ISIS”

Lapid, who held the premiership prior to Netanyahu’s re-election in 2022 said, “Responsibility for this terrible situation rests with Hamas-ISIS.”