Canada Pledges $1M for Palestinian Sex-Crime Victims, Angering Israeli Envoy

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced funding for Palestinian women who have survived sexual violence, drawing an immediate rebuke from a senior Israeli official. Ms. Joly pledged $1 million for women from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip whom her office described as “survivors of sexual violence, no matter the circumstance.” It is unclear which groups will receive the funding announced for women in each region. “Allegations on sexual and gender-based violence against them must be investigated and Palestinian women must be supported,” she wrote in a March 12 statement on the social media platform X. Ms. Joly’s office would not say whether Canada believes Israeli forces are perpetrating sexual violence on women in Gaza, nor if the funding pertains to domestic abuse in the Palestinian territories....