Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“As the Israeli cabinet approved a ceasefire that would have ended eight days of hostilities, Hamas rejected it without a second thought. This proves Hamas has no interest in peace.
“We have long believed that innocent Palestinian people living in Gaza deserve far better than the reckless actions of this terrorist organization.
“Make no mistake, Canada views Hamas as an international terrorist organization that is bent on the destruction of the State of Israel.
“The scourge of terrorism must be wholly rejected by all peace-loving people around the world. We must never allow moral relativism to act as cover for the indiscriminate attacks on Israel we have seen over the past eight days.
“We believe that Israel has the right to defend itself, by itself, from the continued campaign of terror being waged by Hamas.
“We sincerely appreciate Egypt’s efforts in attempting to broker this ceasefire.”
