This article originally appeared in the National Post.
By Alan Kessel, May 23, 2025
On Monday, the governments of Canada, France and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s military operations in Gaza, threatening punitive measures against the Jewish state and calling for an immediate ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid. They offered a brief mention of the hostages still held in Hamas tunnels, but directed the bulk of their ire at the victim of one of the worst terrorist attacks in history.
As a result, Hamas issued a public statement thanking Canada, France and the U.K. This was the second time since October 7 that Hamas has publicly thanked Canada. That fact alone should set off alarm bells in Ottawa. If a terrorist organization responsible for the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent men, women, children and Holocaust survivors is commending your foreign policy, you’re not advancing peace — you’re legitimizing terror.
Worse, Canada has never issued an equivalent statement directed at Hamas. Not once has the Government of Canada said: “If you do not release the hostages and lay down your arms, we will do the following …” There have been no credible threats, no meaningful consequences and no red lines. Instead, Canada’s condemnation and pressure has been reserved for Israel.
Hamas launched its October 7 massacre not in pursuit of peace or Palestinian statehood, but to destroy the possibility of either. Its goal was to shatter the growing diplomatic progress between Israel and key Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia, and trigger a war that would cement its grip on Gaza while drawing international pressure against Israel. The recent statement from London, Paris and Ottawa plays straight into that strategy.
Yes, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. But placing the blame squarely on Israel while ignoring Hamas’s deliberate embedding of military infrastructure in hospitals, schools and apartment buildings is not just a moral failure, it’s geopolitical malpractice.
Demanding that Israel halt its military operations without any credible plan to dismantle Hamas is tantamount to demanding that a mass-murdering terror group be left intact, free to rearm and repeat the events of October 7. No state on earth would accept this. After 9/11, the United States was not asked to co-exist with al-Qaida or accommodate the Taliban. It acted — with the full support of these very same allies.
The October 7 attacks were not only a humanitarian catastrophe but a strategic assault on the very idea of peace in the Middle East. Yet instead of supporting the dismantling of Hamas, the joint statement threatens the one state that’s willing to confront it. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Even the statement’s nod toward a two-state solution is hollow. A two-state solution cannot be built on terror, corruption and incitement. It requires the emergence of a credible Palestinian leadership — one that comes to the table with clean hands, rejects Hamas’s ideology and commits to peaceful coexistence with Israel. The Palestinian Authority must prove itself ready for that responsibility, and the international community must insist on it.
What the joint statement should have said is, “We condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre in the strongest terms and reaffirm Israel’s right to defend its population from further attacks. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Their continued captivity is a gross violation of international law and an affront to human dignity.
“We recognize the suffering of civilians in Gaza and urge Israel to continue expanding humanitarian access in co-ordination with the United Nations and other trusted partners. At the same time, we condemn Hamas for using civilians as human shields and for placing its military infrastructure beneath civilian sites.
“We are united in our view that Hamas cannot remain in control of Gaza. Just as the international community acted decisively after 9/11 to defeat al-Qaida, we support efforts to dismantle Hamas as a political and military force.
“We call on the Palestinian Authority to demonstrate leadership through governance reform, the rejection of violence and a clear commitment to a negotiated two-state solution. We reaffirm our support for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state — secured through negotiation, not terrorism — living side-by-side with Israel in peace.
That is what moral clarity looks like. That is what a responsible statement would have done: supported Israel’s right to dismantle the terror infrastructure threatening its people, demanded the release of the hostages and laid out a credible path for a post-Hamas peace.
Instead, by echoing Hamas’s own narrative and drawing a false equivalence between a sovereign democracy and a terror regime, the leaders of Canada, France and Britain have done lasting harm to the cause of peace — and handed Hamas the propaganda victory it was hoping for.
Alan Kessel is a former legal adviser to the Government of Canada and deputy high commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom. He is also a senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute.
