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Canada Cancels Arms Export Licenses to Israel
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer stands guard outside the Senate of Canada prior to the Speech from the Throne in Ottawa, Canada on September 23, 2020. Photo: AFP photo/DAVE CHAN
JNS.org — Canada has canceled around 30 existing permits for arms shipments to Israel, including a deal with the Canadian division of a US defense contractor, Ottawa’s foreign minister told reporters on Tuesday.
“As for the question regarding General Dynamics, our policy is clear,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said, speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a caucus retreat of her governing Liberal Party.
Last month, the United States announced a $61.1 million deal to supply the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with 120mm high explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment produced in Quebec by Virginia-based General Dynamics.
Joly said, “We will not have any form of arms, or parts of arms, be sent to Gaza. Period. How they’re being sent and where they’re being sent is irrelevant. And so therefore my position is clear, the position of the government is clear, and we’re in contact with General Dynamics.”
Canada’s top diplomat on Tuesday revealed that, over the summer, the government revoked around 30 export permits issued before January, when Ottawa announced a ban on new sales of arms that could be used by the Israel Defense Forces in the war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
In March, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he said he would honor a motion in the House of Commons and halt all arms exports to Jerusalem.
“It’s regrettable that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists, who have committed terrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israeli civilians, including the elderly, women, and children,” said Katz.
Canadian military exports to Israel amounted to more than $15.4 million in 2022, according to official figures. (The largest non-American export destination was Saudi Arabia, which received about $1.15 billion, or about 54 percent of the total value of all non-US Canadian military exports.)
The Ottawa-based Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs said on Wednesday: “Less than a week after six hostages were brutally murdered following more than 300 days in Hamas captivity, and while hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain displaced by Hezbollah’s relentless bombing in the north, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly continues to proclaim Israel’s right to self-defense — just not with Canada’s support.”
“This decision marks a disturbing shift. Canada, once a steadfast ally of the Jewish state, now risks becoming complicit in the ongoing assault against it,” the Canadian Jewish community group added, charging, “While Minister Joly may seek favor in the looming leadership race, it comes at the expense of Canada’s principles and moral standing.”
On Oct. 7, some 6,000 Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel by land, sea, and air from Gaza, murdering around 1,200 people including Canadians, abducting 251 people back to the enclave, and using rape and torture as weapons while temporarily conquering several southern Israeli towns.
Earlier this month, the British government suspended some arms sales to the Israel Defense Forces, claiming there is a “clear risk” the weapons could be used by the Jewish state’s military to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law” in the Gaza Strip.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy informed lawmakers that London would cancel 30 out of 350 licenses, banning the export of aircraft, drones, helicopters ,and ground targeting equipment.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded by saying he was “deeply disheartened to learn of the sanctions placed by the UK Government on export licenses to Israel’s defense establishment.”
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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