Trudeau must avow Canadian support for Israel in Gaza

Peer beneath the surface and the horrific truth emerges. In Gaza’s underground, a vast tunnel system spanning hundreds of miles conceals Hamas fighters, their weapons and likely their Israeli hostages. The tunnels’ entrances dot Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. In schools, hospitals, mosques and even bedrooms of Palestinian children, Hamas combatants — many dressed as civilians — fire at Israeli troops and then flee to subterranean safety.

In the midst of this chaos, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he wants an “immediate ceasefire.” Yet this demand, appealing as it may sound, unwittingly serves Hamas’ interests —  and, in the long term, would exacerbate the conflict — by allowing the terrorist group to re-arm, recover and ultimately repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas understands the tunnels, besides their tactical utility, present the Israeli military with an awful choice: Attack Hamas fighters directly, thereby endangering civilians who shield them, or effectively let Hamas determine when and where to fight. Israel has made the difficult but correct decision, taking the fight to Hamas on Israel’s terms, even as it tries to minimize harm to Gaza civilians.

What Trudeau doesn’t realize is that Hamas welcomes the loss of civilian lives as a key pillar of its cynical battlefield strategy. Hamas seeks to exploit Jerusalem’s reluctant but necessary willingness to imperil civilians by creating the impression that Israel deliberately seeks wanton bloodshed and destruction. That, in turn, generates international pressure on Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire that ensures Hamas’ survival.

It should thus come as no surprise that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has argued, in messages to his ceasefire negotiators exposed by The Wall Street Journal, that civilian casualties in Gaza are “necessary sacrifices.”

By thwarting Jerusalem’s stated objective of destroying Hamas, the terrorist group could plausibly declare victory. As Sinwar put it in another message: “We have the Israelis right where we want them.”

Indeed they would, if Israel were so unwise as to accept Trudeau’s counsel. The prime minister, unlike the Israelis, fails to grasp Hamas’ nihilistic scheme or the long-term consequences of a ceasefire that enables Hamas to live to fight another day. A ceasefire now would simply ensure a bloodier war in the future. And the next round of conflict could follow another all-too-predictable — and all-too-preventable — Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians.

Trudeau once spoke with moral clarity about Oct. 7 and the war it kindled. Canada “reaffirms its support for Israel’s right to defend itself,” Trudeau said on Oct. 8. He added: “To our Israeli friends, Canadians stand with you. The Government of Canada stands ready to support you — our support for the Israeli people is steadfast.”

But not steadfast enough. In the months that followed, Trudeau’s rhetoric became more tentative, calling for Israel’s “maximum restraint.” Earlier this year, the government froze arms exports to Israel. Ottawa subsequently endorsed a ceasefire plan, over Israeli objections, that would have left Hamas intact.

What changed? It’s hard to say. Politics may have played a role. After all, Trudeau’s earlier support for Israel elicited fierce criticism from segments of a divided Liberal party. But another, and grimmer, possibility presents itself: Hamas’ strategy worked. And that suggests that Trudeau never fully understood Hamas and the strategic implications of its attack on Oct. 7.

In the months since the atrocities, Trudeau has repeatedly emphasized Canada’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to it. Yet Hamas has made clear that it seeks not a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, but the rise of an Islamist theocracy between the river and the sea — sans Israel. October 7, in Hamas’ eyes, was one stop on its road toward this vision.

Trudeau cannot have it both ways. A successful and peaceful Palestinian state will not emerge so long as Hamas remains in power. If Trudeau aims to put an end to the violence in Gaza and preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, he should support Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas until it reaches its conclusion. By turning against Israel, Trudeau unwittingly perpetuates the conflict — and lays the groundwork for a bloodier eruption from Gaza’s tunnels.

Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow and senior editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.