Netanyahu says Canada, U.K., France offering ‘huge prize’ to Hamas with Gaza letter

OTTAWA — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Canada, the United Kingdom and France of giving Hamas “a huge prize” by threatening to take action against Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

He was responding to a joint statement issued Monday by Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron threatening what they called “targeted sanctions” on Israel in response to its renewed military offensive in Gaza and the “wholly inadequate” amount of food aid allowed into the enclave.

Hamas welcomed the letter in an online statement Tuesday, calling it “a significant step in the right direction.”

Hamas, which is a designated terrorist entity in Canada, urged the rest of the international community to also take concrete action to stop “savage Zionist aggression” and ensure accountability for Israel, which it called a “rogue state.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the Canadian government stance, saying in a social media post it is wrong to threaten sanctions against a country “while a terrorist group on their borders holds their citizens hostage.”

“When terrorist groups like Hamas say your actions are a ‘significant step in the right direction,’ that means they are not,” Poilievre said.

“This war can end tomorrow if Hamas hands over the remaining hostages, lays down their weapons and surrenders. Conservatives will always stand for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself.”

The U.K. moved first on the threat in the joint statement. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Tuesday the British government is suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and has ordered new sanctions targeting West Bank settlements.

Canada and France have not made similar moves at this point.

Israel is pressing ahead with its new military offensive in Gaza despite mounting international criticism.

The Israeli military launched airstrikes Tuesday that health officials said killed at least 85 Palestinians.

Israeli officials said they also allowed dozens more trucks carrying aid into Gaza.

There are more than two million people in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months. Experts have warned of the high risk of famine.

Under pressure, Israel agreed this week to allow a minimal amount of aid into the territory.

The UN said Tuesday no aid has reached Palestinians, two days after new supplies began entering Gaza.

The joint statement from Carney, Macron and Starmer came after Netanyahu said Monday that Israel plans on “taking control of all of Gaza” and will encourage what he described as voluntary emigration to other countries — a proposal the Palestinians have rejected.

In a social media post late Monday evening, Netanyahu accused the three leaders of “offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”

“This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved,” Netanyahu said in his social media statement.

The joint statement said the three countries support Israel’s right to defend itself but call its military escalation “wholly disproportionate.”

It also said Canada, the U.K. and France oppose “any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank” and threatened sanctions if Israel does not halt their spread.

Lammy said in a statement Tuesday that the Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt “aggressive actions” by extremist Israeli settlers.

“I have seen for myself the consequences of settler violence. The fear of its victims. The impunity of its perpetrators,” Lammy said.

“The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions. Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.”

The U.K. issued sanctions against what it described as three individuals, two “illegal settler outposts” and two organizations “supporting violence against Palestinian communities” in the West Bank.

Thomas Juneau, a University of Ottawa international affairs professor, described this letter as a “somewhat significant” statement from the three nations.

“It shows the growing impatience among many in the international community with Israel’s decision to prolong military operations in Gaza,” Juneau said.

“It is not that significant in the sense that what was written in the joint statement on Monday is not much different from the position that Canada, France, and the U.K. have traditionally taken towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So the substance itself is not new.”

Juneau added the U.K. pause on trade negotiations with Israel is more of symbolic gesture as goods continue to ship between the two nations.

Ultimately, Juneau said any action taken by one of, or all three, of these countries would not have too much of an affect on Israel.

“There should be no illusion that whatever measures or sternly worded statements Canada adopts, there will be no impact on Israel,” Juneau said. “The one international actor that can have an impact on is Israel is the United States. Everything else beyond the United States is secondary.”

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs director general Eden Bar Tal said the country accepted United States special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s proposal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages over the weekend, but claimed Hamas rejected it.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press