Jewish groups call on Trudeau to clarify Gaza blast comments, Canada won't comment on culpability

Facing calls to clarify his previous comments, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday the Canadian government is working 'rapidly' with allies to determine exactly what happened in the Gaza hospital blast that's become a point of contention amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Facing calls to clarify his previous comments, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday the Canadian government is working "rapidly" with allies to determine exactly what happened in the Gaza hospital blast that's become a point of contention amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Calling it "the destruction of the hospital," Trudeau said Canada is taking the time needed to investigate "carefully" beyond the "preliminary evidence" before reaching any final conclusions.

"We are taking this extremely seriously because of all the intensity with which people are living this horrific loss of life," he said.

Dodging questions about who Canada believes to be responsible, the prime minister restated the line he's been repeating since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7 about the need to always protect civilian lives and always respect international humanitarian law.

His comments come as a trio of prominent Canadian Jewish organizations are calling on the prime minister to retract and clarify what he said earlier this week, as in their view it "can only be interpreted as giving credence to the false narrative of the Hamas terror group."

"Canadian elected officials, the media, and other influencers have a responsibility to verify facts before commenting, particularly during times of war," said B'nai Brith, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in a statement.

After the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reported that hundreds have been killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday, Trudeau was quick to say that the news coming out of Gaza on was "horrific and absolutely unacceptable."