Two Canadians dead in Lebanon, MP urges more de-escalation action

OTTAWA — At least two Canadians have died in the escalating violence in Lebanon, as Israeli strikes kill Hezbollah militants along with civilians and children.

Global Affairs Canada says it is aware of the deaths of two Canadian citizens in Lebanon while another has reached out for help with injuries.

Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury was born in Lebanon and says Canada needs to push its peer countries more to stop a cycle in violence in the Middle East, or it could lead to a world war.

He says his cousin who works as an ophthalmologist in Beirut say shocking amounts of bodily trauma in a recent explosion, with numerous people requiring their eyes to be removed.

The Montreal-area MP says the Port of Beirut must be protected from attacks, as it might be the only means of evacuating thousands of Canadians if that is required.

El-Khoury says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make a statement today about the situation in Lebanon.

Last Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said close to 45,000 Canadians are in Lebanon. She has been urging them for months to leave while commercial flights are still available.

Israel insists it is trying to convince Hezbollah to stop firing rockets at northern Israel, but Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, said Monday that Israel must think “more consequentially about what’s happening, less impulsively.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Tuesday that both Israel and Hezbollah must de-escalate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press