Trudeau won't say if Canada will restore funding to UN relief agency in Gaza Strip

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won't say whether Canada intends to restore funding to a UN relief agency operating in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won't say whether Canada intends to restore funding to a UN relief agency operating in the Gaza Strip.

"We're not making any announcements today. But we will continue to make sure Canada does the right thing in this situation and puts the protection of civilian life at the forefront of everything we do," he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

Trudeau added that ministers are in the Middle East right now working with partners in the region and discussing how Canada can help.

The prime minister said Canada needs to get more aid into Gaza and has been discussing the possibility of airlifting aid in.

Sixteen countries paused payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency after Israel alleged that a dozen of the aid organization's workers participated in the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7.

That day, militants killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took another roughly 250 hostage, triggering a devastating war.

Authorities in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, say more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military response.