Mr. Speaker, I rise to table e-petition e-6581, which has 7,531 signatures.
The petitioners note that the Israeli government's blockade of food and medicines to Gaza has continued for more than 90 days since its commencement on March 2, 2025. According to the food security analysis released on May 12, 2025, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership, three-quarters of Gaza's population is currently experiencing “emergency” or “catastrophic” food deprivation.
Canada has ratified the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, giving these the force of law through the Geneva Conventions Act of 1964, which prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The starvation of civilians and other forms of collective punishment are also criminalized by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which Canada ratified on July 7, 2000.
The Government of Canada is the custodian of Canada's reputation as a country that upholds international human rights laws, and it has a duty towards Canadians to ensure that this reputation is not diminished by Canada's inaction in the face of grave breaches of the Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute by other states. Therefore, the petitioners call on the government to suspend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement until the Government of Canada has certitude that the Israeli government is no longer acting in violation of international laws with its deliberate blockade, and to impose sanctions on all members of the present Israeli government who have publicly expressed their support for the continued blockade.
