Whereas,

• One person is killed every six minutes in Gaza. And at least 1 percent of Gaza's population has been killed. Euromed Monitor estimates that 39,178 people have been killed by Israel.
• One Palestinian child in Gaza has been killed approximately every 15 minutes since Israel launched its attack.
• UN Women reports that two mothers are killed every hour. 50,000
  women in Gaza are pregnant, with 5,522 expected to deliver in the next month.
• At least 73,300 more people have been injured since Israel launched its attack. Many of these people are in critical condition. 
  In the Gaza Strip, Euromed Monitor estimates that 3,350 people have been detained or forcibly disappeared.
• Over 115,828 people have been killed, wounded, or are missing.
• 85 percent of the population, at least 2,000,000 people, is displaced. 70 percent of Gaza's infrastructure is destroyed.
• Israel has maintained a 75-year-long system of apartheid, a 56-year-long occupation of Palestine, and a 16-year-long blockade of Gaza
• Defence Minister Yoav Gallant advised that Israel was “imposing a complete siege on Gaza." Gazans are suffering complete deprivation of necessities such as food, water, medical supplies, hygiene supplies, and vital items such as clothing. International experts are warning of imminent starvation and risk of famine.
  • The Integrated Food Security Phase Calculation (IPC) has classified the entire population in the Gaza Strip (2.2 million people) as a class 3 (Crisis or worse) or above. It is the highest proportion of high-level food insecurity that the IPC has ever classified in one area. At least one in four (more than half a million people) are facing catastrophic conditions (Phase 5).
• Gaza's healthcare infrastructure has been destroyed and systematically targeted. Only 13 out of 36 hospitals are at all functional. 61 hospitals and healthcare facilities have been damaged or destroyed. At least 311 healthcare workers have been killed.
• At least 400 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7. This is in addition to at least 199 Palestinians who Israel killed in the West Bank before this date. This has been the deadliest year in the West Bank since the UN began reporting in 2005.
• Palestinians in the West Bank are subjected to routine violence by Israeli soldiers and armed settlers. Israel has raided refugee camps, attacked healthcare, and barred ambulances from reaching injured civilians.
• Israel has detained more than 3,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and increased the number of Palestinians held in administrative detention without charge or trial.

Further,

• The civilian casualty rate is significantly higher than the average of all conflicts worldwide in the 20th century.
• Canada transferred over $20 million in arms to Israel in 2022, including explosives and aircraft components.
• Canada approved $28.5 million in new permits for military exports between October 7 and December 7.
• Canada has in the past imposed a two-way arms embargo against Israel due to Israeli violence toward Palestine.
• Canada imported over $130 million in arms from Israel between
  2018-2022, making Canada Israel's 6th largest arms customer.
• Canada supplies military components to the United States, some of which are then supplied to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This includes the Israeli F-35I Joint Strike Fighter, which has reportedly been used in the bombardment of Gaza.
• Hundreds of Canadian citizens have been and are trapped within the Strip

Therefore, we the undersigned citizens and residents of the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo call immediately upon Member of Parliament Frank Caputo to use any and all power at his disposal to ensure Canada:

• Use all measures necessary to ensure an immediate and permanent ceasefire;
• Impose a two-way embargo on arms between Canada and Israel;
• Investigate whether and how Canadian weapons or components have been used against Palestinians at any time in the occupied Palestinian territories;
• Close loopholes that allow for the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel;
• Fully cooperative with and support South Africa's application before the International Court of Justice against Israel;
• Withdraw Canadian support, and condemn in certainty, the bombing and attacks against Yemen and the escalation of violence in the Red Sea.
• Expand and expedite the Gaza Family Reunification Program, as well as, remove onerous bureaucratic hurdles.
• Reinstate and scale UNWRA funding and publically acknowledge the lack of credible evidence on which the government relied to pause funding to UNWRA.
• Acknowledge that UNWRA is a vital organization in the struggle to deliver aid to the people of Gaza and that other organizations should provide aid in tandem but cannot replace the long-standing and well-organized infrastructure UNWRA has in place.

Further contact to MP Caputo can be directed to:

frank.caputo@parl.gc.ca

275 Seymour Street
Suite 6
Kamloops, British Columbia
V2C 2E7

Telephone: 250-851-4991
Fax: 250-851-4994 

For further contact information: Palestinesolidaritykamloops@duck.com or @PalestineSolidarityKamloops on Instagram

Sources

Amnesty International. (2022). Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. (2023). Position Paper: Leveraging Canada’s Arms Trade to End the Violence in Gaza. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/cjpme/pages/7855/attachments/original/1702565171/En-2023-12-Leveraging-Arms-Trade_FINAL.pdf?1702565171

Cosh, A. (2024). Trudeau Government Authorized $28.5 Million Of New Military Exports To Israel Since October. https://www.readthemaple.com/trudeau-government-authorized-28-million-of-new-military-exports-to-israel-since-october/

Dyer, Evan. (2024). Canadian officials still haven’t seen intelligence linking UN’s Gaza aid agency with Hamas: sources. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/unrwa-hamas-gaza-canada-1.7107785

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. (2024). In 4th month of Israeli genocide, 4 percent of Gaza’s population dead, missing, or injured; 70 percent of Strip’s infrastructure destroyed. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6079/In-4th-month-of-Israeli-genocide,-4-percent-of-Gaza%E2%80%99s-population-dead,-missing,-or-injured;-70-percent-of-Strip%E2%80%99s-infrastructure-destroyed

Gallagher, K. (2024). Fanning the Flames: The grave risk of Canada’s arms exports to Israel. https://www.ploughshares.ca/reports/fanning-the-flames-the-grave-risk-of-canadas-arms-exports-to-israel?ref=readthemaple.com

Human Rights Watch. (2021). A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution

Human Rights Watch. (2024). Gaza: Suspending UNWRA Aid Risks Hastening Famine. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/31/gaza-suspending-unrwa-aid-risks-hastening-famine

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (n.d.) Gaza Strip: Hostilities leave the entire population highly food insecure and at risk of Famine. https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-94/en/ 

International Court of Justice. (2023). Application Instituting Proceedings. https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2024/01/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf

Oxfam. (2024). Joint Statement: UNRWA funding cuts threaten Palestinian lives in Gaza and region, say NGOs. https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/unrwa-funding-cuts-threaten-palestinian-lives-in-gaza-and-region-say-ngos/#:~:text=We%20are%20shocked%20by%20the,protected%20while%20doing%20their%20job

Times of Israel. (2023). Defense minister announces ‘complete siege’ of Gaza: No power, food or fuel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/

United Nations. (2022). Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid – UN human rights expert. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/03/israels-55-year-occupation-palestinian-territory-apartheid-un-human-rights

United Nations. (2022). Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal: UN rights commission. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129722

United Nations. (2023). Opening statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at press conference ahead of Human Rights Day. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/12/opening-statement-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk

United Nations. (2024). Two mothers killed each hour in Gaza conflict: UN Women. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145707

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2022). Gaza strip the humanitarian impact of 15 years of the blockade. https://www.unicef.org/mena/media/18041/file/Factsheet_Gaza_Blockade_2022.pdf

United Nations Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights. (2023). UN Human Rights Office - OPT: Dramatic rise in detention of Palestinians across occupied West Bank. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-dramatic-rise-detention-palestinians-across-occupied-west-bank

United Nations Women. (2024). Facts and figures: Women and girls during the war in Gaza. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2023/10/facts-and-figures-women-and-girls-during-the-war-in-gaza