Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has endorsed a recent proposal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden which aims to end the Israel-Hamas war.
While announcing his endorsement on X, Trudeau wrote: “Canada has been calling for an immediate ceasefire, an urgent increase in unhindered humanitarian assistance, and the release of all hostages.
“The proposal put forward by (Biden) is an opportunity to end the suffering and return to a path to peace. All parties must seize it.”
Biden presented a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that according to him could be “a road map to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages.”
In the same vein, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada “fully supports” the proposal.
She wrote: “It must be accepted.
“All parties must seize this opportunity to bring an end to human suffering and build a path towards an irreversible two-state solution.”
Biden revealed that Hamas can no longer carry out another large-scale attack on Israel akin to the Oct. 7 assault that induced the war.
Biden stated that the first phase of the proposed deal would last for six weeks and would include a “full and complete ceasefire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from every densely populated area of Gaza and the release of many hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
American hostages would also be released at this stage, and the corpses of hostages that have been killed would be released to their families. Humanitarian assistance would increase during the first phase as 600 trucks will be allowed into Gaza every day.
The second phase would include releasing every remaining living hostage, including male soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
Biden said: “And as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, ‘the cessation of hostilities permanently.’”
The third phase demands the commencement of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from destruction caused by the war.