Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday condemned what he called Israel's "illegal invasion" of southern Lebanon, which he said is a violation of territorial sovereignty.
Carney told reporters in Wakefield, Quebec, that a ceasefire is necessary between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, against which Israeli forces have launched a renewed offensive. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier Tuesday that Israel plans to control a 30-kilometre area between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani River - about one-tenth of Lebanon’s territory - even after the fighting ends.
Carney said the Lebanese government has banned Hezbollah and is trying to take action against its terrorist activities, which is Israel's purported justification for the invasion. "So we condemn it," Carney said. The Canadian government has declared Hezbollah a foreign terrorist entity since 2002.
The conflict widened when Hezbollah launched missiles toward Israel on March 2. Israel immediately retaliated and declared war, launching waves of airstrikes and sending ground troops across the border. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced and another 1,200 have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began. Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon.
Katz said Tuesday that Israel will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the border, and that 600,000 people who fled the south will not be allowed home until northern Israel is secure. Israel on Tuesday launched new strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.