Canadian PM calls for long pause to de-escalate Gaza situation

OTTAWA -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called for a humanitarian pause long enough to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and get back on track towards a two-state solution.

Trudeau said the pause would be long enough to allow all hostages to be released, and for significant amounts of aid and medical resources to get in, so the work can begin to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon where tensions are spilling over.

"And where we actually start doing the work of the real heavy lifting that's going to be required to get back on track to a two-state solution, to start imagining what the long-term future of a viable Palestinian state looks like: safe, secure. And, beside a safe, secure, viable and successful Israeli state," Trudeau said.

Currently, a petition on the House of Commons website is requiring the prime minister to take the necessary measures to address the Israel-Palestine conflict including calling for an immediate ceasefire.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition, the most-signed active e-petition, had garnered more than 189,000 signatures.