November 26, 2024
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
Subject: Action needed to achieve ceasefire in Israel and Gaza
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
I am writing on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and over 250,000 frontline nurses and health care workers to express once again our need for your government to take urgent action to end the ongoing military violence and bombardment of Gaza. There needs to be an urgent end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the ability to facilitate the return of Israeli hostages. Additionally, we are very concerned that as a country we need to do more to stop the abhorrent growth of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, and after a year of violence it has reached unimaginable levels. The United Nations estimates that over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, with an additional approximately 102,347 reported injured. Many reports have this number higher with estimates of an additional 10,000 Palestinians missing and presumed dead, with many more facing mass starvations. This comes after the October 7 attacks by Hamas with now over 1,200 Israelis, Israeli Defense Force members and foreign nations have been killed in the conflict and approximately 5,432 injured.
The overwhelming fatalities in Gaza are civilians – 70 percent being women and children. There is no safe refuge, leaving close to 1.7 million people displaced in Gaza. We are seeing the conflict escalate and impact neighbouring countries. The conflict has now gravely impacted Lebanon’s population, health care infrastructure and health care workers. More needs to be done to end this conflict.
The world has witnessed the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, and no hospital or medical facility has been spared. There are barely any hospitals able to run with numerous health facilities bombed and attacked over the last year. Many health care works have been killed and continue to work in extremely dangerous and very limited conditions.
Given the severity of the situation, Canada’s nurses are expanding our calls (correspondence on 2023-11-09 and 2024-02-21), and we are demanding of your government to do more to resolve the crisis. Your government must prioritize the protection of health care workers and access to essential services.
These are extremely difficult times that require action motivated by a need to ensure peace, security and the protection of health care workers in situations of war and conflict.
As nurses and health care workers we must stand up for peace globally, and we know many Canadians share this believe in our government’s role. We urge your government to use its influence on the international stage to uphold international law, call for an immediate ceasefire, support the release of all hostages and push for a lasting peace process.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent issues.
Sincerely,
Linda Silas, CFNU President
Cc.: The Hon. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development
The Hon. Mark Holland, Minister of Health