Canada pledges C$100 million in new aid for Palestine

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced C$100 million ($71 million) in new aid for Palestine, saying the funding is aimed at preserving “the possibility of a two-state solution.”

Carney announced the funding on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, Caliber.Az reports per Canadian media.

He said 80 per cent of the package, or C$80 million ($57 million), would go towards direct humanitarian aid, while the remaining 20 per cent, or C$20 million ($14 million), would support “peace and security”. This includes Canada’s multiyear initiative to train Palestinian police in the occupied West Bank.

Carney said Palestinians in Gaza were experiencing “immense human suffering”, while Israelis faced “existential threats from Hamas and from Iran and its proxies.”

He also criticised Israel’s E1 settlement project and said Canada intended to introduce restrictions on goods produced in settlements in the occupied territory.

Canada is among 12 countries that have announced such trade restrictions.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Ottawa has pledged more than C$600 million ($426 million) in aid for Palestinian civilians.

By Sabina Mammadli