Israel pushes back against Canada’s criticism of its occupation of southern Lebanon

Israel is pushing back against Canada’s criticism of its occupation of southern Lebanon, saying Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government fails to understand the threat Israelis face from Hezbollah forces there. Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, said the Israel Defence Forces have no choice but to intervene because the Lebanese government cannot resolve the threat posed by Hezbollah. Earlier this week in a statement on X, Canada’s Global Affairs said Ottawa “strongly condemns Israel’s plans to occupy territory in southern Lebanon,” saying that country’s “sovereignty & territorial integrity must not be violated.” It also called on Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization in Canada, to cease attacks on Israel and disarm. Ms. Haskell, who was born in Toronto but raised in Israel, said Lebanon has no control over Hezbollah fighters within its borders. “They don’t listen to the Lebanese government, because this is an army of Iran,” she said in an interview Thursday. Hezbollah, Israel and the battle for Lebanon’s future Lebanon fails to act on intelligence about Hezbollah, the deputy minister alleged. “We give them information exactly where they are, where their warehouses are, where their rocket launchers are, and they don’t go and disarm them,” she said of the Lebanese government. On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched a military air campaign against Iran and assassinated then-supreme-leader Ali Khamenei. In response, Hezbollah launched strikes from Lebanon on Israel on March 2 – the first such strikes since a 2024 ceasefire. U.S.-based watchdog Human Rights Activists News Agency has estimated as of Thursday that more than 3,300 people have been killed in Iran, including over 1,400 civilians. Israel’s strikes on Lebanon have caused widespread destruction across the country’s south and parts of the capital, Beirut, and have killed more than 1,000 people. Over a million people have been forced from their homes. Ms. Haskell said Hezbollah continues to rain down rockets and missiles on Israel. “They continue to fire and they continue to destroy and kill our people,” she said. The alternative would be to evacuate tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens from the strike zone. “Who’s going to pay for that? Who’s going to pay for their homes which are being destroyed by Hezbollah every day?” the deputy foreign minister said. In depth: How the ‘Dahiya Doctrine’ rose from the ashes in Lebanon Ms. Haskell characterized Canada’s call for an Israeli withdrawal as “ridiculous and a really one-sided declaration that completely ignores” reality. Israel’s embassy in Canada said two people have died so far as a result of Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel since March 2. It said that deaths would be higher if not for precautionary measures, as well as its Iron Dome defence system. Israel in return has launched air strikes and then a ground invasion of Lebanon. Israel’s military has destroyed five bridges over the Litani River since March 13 and has accelerated the demolition of homes in Lebanese villages close to the Israeli border as part of a campaign that Israel says is aimed at Hezbollah and not Lebanese civilians. Under international law, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including homes and bridges, are generally prohibited. Earlier this week, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said its military will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, the first time Israel has clearly spelled out its intent to seize swathes of territory that make up nearly a tenth of Lebanon. The Litani River meets the Mediterranean about 30 km north of the Israeli border with Lebanon. The United Nations human-rights chief has criticized Israel’s actions, particularly its use of widespread evacuation orders. On March 16, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain said in a joint statement that a “significant Israeli ground offensive” in Lebanon must be averted since it could have devastating humanitarian consequences. It also condemned Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. Israel invaded southern Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982, staying on as an occupying force until 2000. Separately, Israel’s deputy foreign minister also criticized Mr. Carney’s early March statement where he said the Israel-U.S. pre-emptive attacks on Iran appeared to be “inconsistent with international law.” He qualified this by saying it’s up to experts to judge. Ms. Haskell said Mr. Carney was “absolutely incorrect” about the strikes violating international law. Israel justified the strikes as necessary to remove what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear program and its regime, while U.S. President Donald Trump said the operation aimed to eliminate what he described as “imminent threats” from Iran, destroy its missile and naval capabilities, and ensure it could never obtain a nuclear weapon. She said Mr. Carney “needs to look better into the facts, into the intelligence,” and suggested his relationship with Mr. Trump restricted what information was available to the Prime Minister “Maybe if President Trump would have seen him as a great partner, he would have shared with him all of the objectives and all of the intelligence.” Ms. Haskell repeated Mr. Netanyahu’s dismay at Canada recognizing the state of Palestine last September along with other countries including France and Britain. She said this act “dramatically” affected Canada-Israel relations. The deputy foreign minister, citing rising antisemitism in Canada, said Canadian authorities are failing to do enough to combat it. She likened this hatred of Jews to a mental disease, which “if you don’t deal with it, continues to spread and infest more and more and more.” Marsha Lederman: Antisemitism has reached alarming levels. Now what? Since March 2, bullets have been fired at three Toronto synagogues. “Canada used to be the safest place for Jews,” Ms. Haskell said. “The Jewish community is going to pay in blood” before authorities wake up “to the reality that they have to act.” The federal government recently announced $10-million to bolster security in Canada’s Jewish communities, including synagogues, daycares, schools and community centres. Bill C-9 – which is working its way through Parliament – is aimed to strengthen Canada’s hate crime laws. Ms. Haskell, however, said authorities are failing to enforce existing laws and need to devote more effort to investigating antisemitic acts. With reports from Reuters and Associated Press