By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Hundreds of protesters forced cancellation of a Saturday evening reception dinner hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his visiting Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni.
The event was to be held at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, but Trudeau and Meloni and other dignitaries were blocked from entering the building.
"Due to security concerns, the event was cancelled," a spokesperson for the prime minister's office told CBC News. There were 200-300 protesters and police did not say if any were arrested.
As with other pro-Palestinian protests, demonstrators said Canada and Trudeau was funding genocide in Gaza.
Canada has called for a cease-fire in the enclave, but Trudeau remains adamant that Israel has the right to defend itself. The war began after Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization in Canada, attacked and killed about 1,200 Israelis and took around 250 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel responded with an all-out assault, vowing to destroy Hamas. More than 30,000 people, most of them women and children, have since been killed in Gaza.