Justin Trudeau responds to calls for probe into allegations of sexual assault by Hamas

OTTAWA — Calls by women from across the political spectrum for Canada to play a role in investigating Hamas’s use of sexual violence in its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel are finally being answered. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered two key cabinet ministers to look into exactly how Canada could from former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne, former deputy Conservative leader Lisa Raitt and others to commit $1 million to support victims and survivors, and send the RCMP to Israel to aid in investigations.

But sources privy to Ottawa's deliberations say their first option — a repeat of the mechanism used to support a probe of Russia's use of sexual violence in Ukraine — faltered as that funding was delivered through the International Criminal Court, and Israel does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Now, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc are exploring alternatives. "Our hearts are with the victims and their families impacted by sexual violence," Trudeau wrote in a letter obtained by the Star that was sent to Wynne, Raitt, former Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo and others.

"Our government will always stand against sexual and gender based violence and advocate for justice for all victims." Ottawa's move comes as the United Nations is now sending an envoy to Israel to investigate reports of Hamas's sex crimes, according to statements from Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry reported in The New York Times on Wednesday.

Pramila Patten, the special representative of the UN secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, will take on her investigation as two other UN experts said the reports emerging from Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks suggest they may also qualify as crimes against humanity. Allegations of sexual torture include gang rapes, sexual assaults, mutilations and gunshots to genital areas.

Female bodies were found with their clothing pulled up to their waists, with underpants removed or torn or stained with blood, the two noted in a released this week. Three months ago, Hamas — which Canada has designated a terrorist organization — infiltrated Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking as many as 250 people hostage.

Roughly half of the hostages have now been released. Israel's retaliation is ongoing and the latest estimates from the Hamas run government in Gaza say more than 23,200 people have been killed. Its death toll does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. A spokesman for LeBlanc, who oversees the RCMP, told the Star that Canada is committed to seeking justice for victims.

“Our government unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks perpetrated by Hamas militants against innocent Israeli citizens on Oct. 7," Jean Sebastien Comeau said. "We continue to look at ways to support investigative efforts into instances of gender based violence that took place on Oct.

7, and are committed to seeking justice for victims." In Toronto, Wynne said she was "pleased that the government is seriously working on providing funding that can be used for investigation and support for victims and witnesses of these atrocities." "It is not question of whether these crimes of rape and sexual assault took place at the hands of Hamas on Oct.

7. We know they did. It is a question now of holding the perpetrators to account," said the former premier. "For generations the violation of women has been a reality of war that too often has been ignored or minimized because of the context. That cannot happen any longer,” Wynne's letter was followed by an opinion article in the Star from former B.C.

premier Christy Clark, former interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, former Liberal Ontario education minister Liz Sandals and Laureen Harper, a prominent Conservative and wife of former prime minister Stephen Harper. They added their voices to a growing chorus demanding Ottawa take action, and pushed back against those who dismissed, downplayed or even denied that Hamas attackers had sexually assaulted Israelis.

Supporting Israeli women matters beyond Israel's borders, "It does not just send a message to the women of Israel that they are believed, but to women who are victims of rape all around the world, that you are believed," they said. "For those who were murdered and don’t have a voice, we must be their voice.".