Letter demands Canada condemn Gaza hospital bombing as war crime

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – An open letter from 300 organizations sent Tuesday to high-ranking Canadian politicians including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demands the bombing of a Gaza hospital be condemned as a war crime.

The call to condemn the attack, which killed hundreds, including children, is posted on the Facebook page of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).

While Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group are trading blame over who is responsible for the atrocity, the NCCM and the other organizations point the finger at Israel.

“Today, Israeli forces bombed the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City,” the post says. “At least 500 people have died as a result, including children. Other estimates put the casualty number even higher.

“This is a war crime. It must be condemned. We, the undersigned, are asking you and the leaders in this country to publicly and clearly condemn it.”

The letter is addressed to Trudeau, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the leaders of the Conservative and New Democrat parties.

The NCCM lists in total 300 mainly Muslim organizations as signatories.

Earlier Tuesday, Trudeau condemned the bombing as “horrific and absolutely unacceptable.”

"International humanitarian and international law needs to be respected in this and in all cases," Trudeau told reporters. But the letter was posted on NCCM’s Facebook page later in the day.

Also earlier Tuesday, Joly was asked about the UN’s warning that Israel’s evacuation order for northern Gaza may break international law. She said only that “a civilian is a civilian, and that Israeli civilians and Palestinian civilians are equal (and) we need to make sure...international law principles are upheld in this situation.”

In an email to CTV News on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces said intelligence indications are that “Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”

Islamic Jihad is an organization that was founded in the 1980s in the Gaza Strip to fight the Israeli occupation. It denied the Israeli allegation.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the devastation at the hospital was the result of an Israeli air raid.