In November of last year, I reached out to foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly’s office with a question. The prime minister of Lebanon had, just days earlier, put forward a peace plan to halt Israel’s war in Gaza; to release the hostages held by Hamas; and to put the region back onto the path to peace. “Can you tell me,” I wrote to Joly’s staffer, “if Canada has been a part of those conversations, and what Ottawa’s position is vis-à-vis the plan?”
Prime minister Najib Mikati was practically begging any and all Western leaders to sign onto his plan. At that point, Israel was still cleaning up from Hamas’ horrific October assault, and their response was already well on its way to reducing Gaza City to rubble—by early November, 10,000 were already dead.
