Canada has suspended some 30 permits for arms shipments to Israel, including a rare move against a US company's Canadian subsidiary's deal with the US government, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency.
All of the export permits had been approved prior to a January ban on new sales of weapons that could be used in Gaza, according to the report.
Joly said she had ordered a review of all Canadian weapons suppliers' contracts with Israel and other countries.
"Following that, I suspended this summer around 30 existing permits of Canadian companies," she said, as quoted by AFP.
"Our policy is clear: We will not have any form of arms or parts of arms be sent to Gaza. Period," Joly added.
"How they're being sent and where they're being sent is irrelevant," she continued, alluding to ammunition that was meant to have been produced by a Canadian division of US defense contractor General Dynamics for the IDF.
Joly added that the government is in contact about this issue with General Dynamics.
Israel has historically been a top receiver of Canadian arms exports, with Can$21 million worth of military material exported to Israel in 2022, according to government data, following Can$26 million in shipments in 2021.
In March, Joly confirmed that Canada will end arms exports to Israel. The announcement followed the approval by Canada’s parliament of a motion submitted by the New Democratic Party (NDP) on Palestinian statehood which included calls for an immediate ceasefire to end Israel's military operations in Gaza and to end arms sales to Israel.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was initially supportive of Israel’s response to Hamas' October 7 attack, having told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he “unequivocally condemned Hamas’ large-scale attacks against Israel.”
He later became critical of Israel and said in November that the "killing of women, of children, of babies" in the Gaza Strip must end.