OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada will sanction leaders of Hamas in response to its brutal attack on Israel last year.

Joly says the sanctions will be announced at some point today and will also include people associated with the Palestinian militant group called Islamic Jihad.

The sanctions come four months into Israel’s war on Hamas, which began when militants stormed Israel on Oct. 7, brutally killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.

Since then, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip and drastically restricted vital humanitarian aid, and the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says about 27,500 Palestinians have been killed.

Joly says she is in touch with her counterpart from Jordan to see how more aid can reach the Gaza Strip, calling the situation there dire and catastrophic.

Ottawa has also said it is considering sanctioning violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, but has resisted calls from pro-Palestinian groups to do the same for Israeli government officials who make inflammatory comments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press