Canadian aid organizations are renewing calls for a complete embargo on military exports to Israel, warning that it is impossible for them to provide basic support to Palestinians while Israel continues its brutal attacks on Gaza.
Dalia Al-Awqati, head of humanitarian affairs at Save the Children Canada (SCC), noted that Israel’s war has so far killed at least 16,456 children, amounting to more than 1 per cent of Gaza’s total child population.
Another estimated 20,000 are missing, she said, with many likely buried beneath rubble.
“We don’t believe that the government of Canada should continue to provide weapons that are likely being used in violations of international humanitarian law against civilians and particularly against children,” Al-Awqati told The Maple.
In March, the Trudeau government said it would pause authorizations of new permits for exports of military goods to Israel. However, this measure did not apply to approximately $95 million worth of export permits approved before January 8, or any goods that flow to Israel via the United States and other third countries.
In August, the U.S. government announced that a Quebec-based company will be the principal contractor in a “possible” $61-million U.S. sale of high explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment to Israel.
Following that announcement, a coalition of civil society organizations wrote a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly warning that Canada risks being complicit in the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza through its ongoing transfer of military goods bound for Israel.
“As organizations committed to upholding human rights, the protection of civilians, peace, and justice — several of whom are present in Gaza and seeing daily the grave consequences of the transfer of weapons to conflict parties — we urge the Government of Canada to take immediate action to cease all exports of arms and arms components to Israel, as well as any and all transfers for which Israel will be the end user,” the letter reads.
The signatories also stated that Canada’s military exports to Israel could amount to a violation of Canada’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits the government from permitting military exports if the goods are likely to be used to commit serious violations of international law.
SCC was one of several aid organizations that signed the letter.
Al-Awqati explained that SCC has been present in Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1953, and has maintained a permanent presence there since 1973.
She said that while her organization’s work in Gaza has always involved some degree of emergency programming and mental strain on its staff, it ramped up dramatically when Israel launched its massive bombing campaign last October.
Now SCC is focused on meeting the civilian population’s basic needs, including for food and water, thermal blankets, tents, hygiene products, mental health and psychosocial support, and primary healthcare services. This work, however, is extremely difficult amid Israel’s constant attacks.
“It’s really just such an incredible struggle to operate in Gaza. I’ve never seen anything like it in my career,” Al-Awqati explained. In particular, she said, the challenges are most severe for Palestinian aid workers.
“The situation across the board for humanitarian workers, health workers, Palestinians and internationals, is really unbearable. The difference being that international staff are able to leave, and Palestinians aren’t, and it’s just been such a struggle for survival,” said Al-Awqati.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 254 aid workers, the majority of whom worked for UNRWA, the main aid organization in Gaza. The death toll also includes seven aid workers killed when Israeli forces launched a precision missile strike on a clearly marked World Central Kitchen vehicle that was travelling along a designated aid route in April.
In March, Refugees International published a report that found Israel “consistently and groundlessly impeded aid operations within Gaza, blocked legitimate relief operations and resisted implementing measures that would genuinely enhance the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
The report explained that Israeli authorities have “erected unnecessary hurdles, complicated logistical processes, and an unpredictable vetting system, rendering the inspection regime overwhelmingly burdensome with layers of bureaucracy and inspection and limited working hours.” It described conditions inside Gaza as “apocalyptic.”
This week, the World Food Programme warned that 2.2 million people in Gaza are still in “urgent” need of food and other basic aid.
Israel’s war on Gaza is currently being examined as a potential case of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January ordered Israel to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Refugees International report found that Israel was “demonstrably failing to comply” with that order.
Similarly, Human Rights Watch said in May that Israel was flouting the court’s orders.
Among the aid staff who have been able to continue their work in Gaza, Al-Awqati explained, some are also burdened with trying to reassure their own children who have been traumatized by Israel’s attacks.
Like many others in Gaza, some aid workers have also been forcibly displaced several times since last October. Nurses and doctors have reported lacking basic supplies needed to treat patients, including pain medications for amputations and other life-saving procedures.
This has resulted in aid staff reporting that they simply feel powerless to do their jobs.
Al-Awqati, who herself has Palestinian roots, said it has felt humbling for staff based in Canada to be able to live in relative safety while their extended families and colleagues in Palestine are forced to navigate constant dangers. “It’s really beyond words,” she said.
“I can put my kid to sleep every night and know that he’s going to wake up in the morning.”
School Bombing
Miranda Gallo, government relations manager at Islamic Relief Canada (IRC), told The Maple her organization renewed its call for an arms embargo by signing the letter to Joly due to the worsening situation in Gaza and its impact on the charity’s aid operations.
According to Gallo, IRC has distributed approximately 36 million hot meals throughout Gaza since October, as well as hygiene kits, clean water and psychosocial support for children, including through counselling and entertainment.
On August 10, Israel bombed al-Tabeen school in Gaza City, where IRC had been distributing hot meals to displaced families. According to the charity, the attack killed as many as 100 people.
IRC also maintains an orphan sponsorship program. Israel’s bombing campaign and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe has so far killed 117 orphans in that program, according to Gallo.
“You can’t claim neutrality and support for a ceasefire or for peace while continuing to supply this war with its weapons,” said Gallo. “The ice is not only thin when it comes to potential Canadian complicity, but it’s actually cracking.”
“Calling for an arms embargo is really the only way to try and put pressure for a ceasefire.”
Oxfam Canada also signed the renewed call for an arms embargo on Israel. Laveza Khan, an external affairs specialist with the organization, echoed concerns about Israel’s blocking of support to Palestinians in Gaza.
“Under the current circumstances, it’s impossible for an organization like Oxfam Canada or Oxfam International to actually do its job, because we can’t get through and deliver the aid and the basic services that are needed,” she explained.
Oxfam, which has approximately 30 staff on the ground in Gaza, signed a similar call for an arms embargo on Israel back in February, but has renewed its call since the situation in the besieged enclave has only gotten worse.
Oxfam’s work in Gaza is primarily focused on providing water sanitation, Khan explained. “We’re not able to do that when equipment isn’t able to get through and when water facilities are being destroyed or being contaminated.”
The organization published a report in July titled “Water War Crimes” that highlighted how Israel has deliberately weaponized access to water during its attacks on Gaza.
The report found that Israel’s cutting off of external water supply, destruction of water facilities and deliberate aid obstruction reduced available water in Gaza by 94 per cent to 4.74 litres a day per person.
Oxfam said that amount is just under a third of the recommended minimum in emergencies and less than a single toilet flush.
Oxfam staff have also been among those forcibly displaced by Israel’s attacks. In a voice note shared with The Maple, Oxfam employee Ghada Al-Haddad said she was displaced from Deir al-Balah on August 25.
“While moving from my home, as the forced displacement order was given, I felt a piece of myself being taken away. I was uprooted, and it felt like I was losing my roots,” Al-Haddad said in the voice note. “I was exhausted, not just physically but also emotionally. The weight of uncertainty was heavy on my shoulders. We don’t know where we should go. What would happen next? Where would I go? Where will I ever feel at home again?”
Khan said the Trudeau government’s lack of transparency regarding what specific Canadian military exports could be ending up in Israel’s hands has been another major cause for concern.
“There has been no follow up, no clarity given to the humanitarian sector, to peace and justice organizations about what the [export] pause really meant,” she noted. “At the end of the day, what we are asking for is an immediate ceasing of all exports of arms to Israel.”
“I think we should be concerned about the role of Canada in this ongoing devastation, crisis and risk of genocide that we’re seeing in Gaza.”
Alex Cosh is the news editor of The Maple.
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