Canada hits Hamas, Israeli settlers, Iran with new sanctions

OTTAWA — Canada on Wednesday announced further sanctions against Hamas over its "acts of terror" and several Israeli settlers for "extremist violence" against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Ottawa also, along with Australia and the United States, added five senior Iranian officials to its sanctions list for their roles in policies leading to the violent repression of protests.

The new sanctions target 11 individuals and two entities with roles in Hamas's financial network that Ottawa said was used in the planning and execution of attacks on Israel launched on October 7, 2023, the government said in a statement.

Four Israelis, as well as the Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich, were also listed for "participating in or facilitating acts of harassment and violence, including attacks on humanitarian convoys... and displacement of Palestinian communities."

The latest sanctions against five senior Iranian officials were announced to mark the two years since the death in Iranian custody of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of Tehran's strict dress code for women.

As the sanctions were rolled out, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, which is acting as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, along with Egypt and the United States.

Trudeau expressed a "deep concern over the risk of an expanded conflict between Israel and Iran as well as Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned groups," according to a readout of their talks.

The October 7 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that includes hostages killed in captivity. 

Out of 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,272 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.