Liberals are 'open' to accepting Palestinian refugees fleeing Israel-Hamas war: report

AP Photo/Abed Khaled

The decimation of northern Gaza has made Canada a potential resettlement location for displaced Palestinians, owing to its "lenient" immigration policy. 

The Israeli government drafted a wartime "concept paper" on the hypothetical transfer of 2.3 million people to several countries, including Egypt — earning Swift objection from the Palestinians and Egyptian government.

"We are against transfer to any place, in any form, and we consider it a red line that we will not allow to be crossed," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said of the report. "What happened in 1948 will not […] happen again."

Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, said a mass influx of Palestinian refugees would risk bringing militants into the country and strain relations with Israel.

He said the tenets of the "concept paper" could procure future attacks from the Sinai Peninsula into Israel and endanger their 1979 peace treaty. 

Trudeau's Immigration Minister comments on the Israeli government's 'concept paper' that lists Canada as a potential final destination for refugees fleeing Gaza: "We are open to those fleeing war. This is a war." https://t.co/0UqW9NyyCP pic.twitter.com/fw6jpi5bSh

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 31, 2023

"In our assessment, fighting after the population is evacuated would lead to fewer civilian casualties compared to what could be expected if the population were to remain," reads the October 13 document.

Aside from Egypt, it also pitches Canada, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as partners in resettling Palestinians. 

However, the document dismissed reinstating the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza, who Israel ejected from Gaza after a weeklong 2007 war that put Hamas in power. Contravening that would be "an unprecedented victory of the Palestinian national movement" that would "claim the lives of thousands of Israeli civilians and soldiers," it said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to downplay the report, stating: "The issue of the 'day after' has not been discussed in any official forum in Israel."

"[Our] focus at this time [is] on destroying the governing and military capabilities of Hamas," they said.

Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that Canada is "open to those fleeing war" in response to a question about an Israeli government concept paper that lists Canada as a possible final destination for Gaza refugees.https://t.co/9ExUNNuLml

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 2, 2023

As of writing, over 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed during the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas along the border between Gaza and Israel. 

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 8,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the pre-emptive attack. Hamas continues to hold 240 Israeli hostages, reported CTV.