The number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes in Toronto, Canada's largest city, has spiked significantly since the start of the Gaza conflict.
Attendees return signs after a rally to highlight Islamophobia, sponsored by the Muslim Association of Canada © Reuters
The number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes in Toronto, Canada's largest city, has spiked significantly since the start of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, authorities said on Friday.
Police chief Myron Demkiw said 78 hate crimes had been reported between Oct. 7 and Nov. 20, compared to 37 in the same time frame in 2022. The real number was undoubtedly higher since some people were hesitant to come forward, he added.
The number of reported antisemitic hate crimes in this period almost trebled to 38 from 13 last year, while those involving the Muslim, Palestinian and Arab population leapt to 17 from just one in 2022.
"The impact of the events in the Middle East on our city are ongoing and have escalated since Oct. 7," Demkiw told a televised news conference.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas raid into southern Israel and subsequent Israeli retaliation, 25 people have been arrested and 64 charges laid in relation to reported hate incidents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of Donald Trump's latest Gaza plan in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday, even as Israel's military has effectively halted attacks in the territory under pressure from the U.S. President.
US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced legislation Thursday that would authorize up to $1.2 billion in security assistance to Lebanon over five years, with part of the funding conditioned on Beirut's progress toward a state monopoly on arms and the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Spain's government said on Friday it would establish border controls for flights and ships from Italy from midnight on Saturday until September 7 in a dispute with the neighbouring country over irregular migration.
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