Carney calls hostages release under Gaza peace deal ‘moment of profound relief’

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is calling the release of hostages under a ceasefire deal in Gaza “a moment of profound relief” and is urging all parties to uphold the ceasefire agreement.

Carney travelled to Egypt on Sunday to take part in the signing of a Middle East peace plan with other world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

The gathering of world leaders, dubbed “Summit for Peace,” comes as Hamas released 20 remaining living Israeli hostages and Israel started to free hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons.

“For the Jewish people, this is a moment that holds two truths at once — a grief for what cannot be restored, and a fragile light of what might still be repaired,” Carney said in a statement released Monday.

He said it is a time to remember all those murdered in the Hamas’ “heinous terrorist attacks” of Oct. 7, 2023, including Canadians Vivian Silver, Netta Epstein, Alexandre Look, Judih Weinstein, Shir Georgy, Ben Mizrachi and Adi Vital-Kaploun, as well as others with close ties to Canada like Tiferet Lapidot.

In the statement, Carney praised Trump’s leadership in advancing the peace plan and called on all parties to implement the terms of the ceasefire.

That includes establishing a transitional governance for Gaza and working toward a permanent political solution where Israelis and Palestinians peacefully coexist. Hamas must disarm and play no role in the future governance of a demilitarized Palestinian state, reads the statement.

“The release of hostages must be a turning point toward lasting peace,” Carney said.

Media were not notified of Carney’s trip before it was confirmed through an update to his Sunday itinerary, about three hours before his plane was set to depart. Carney landed in Egypt around 6 a.m. E.T. Monday.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in an emailed statement that since landing, Carney has spoken to more than a dozen of the assembled leaders. That includes the Palestinian Authority, the secretary general of the United Nations, and a number of European and Middle Eastern countries.

“Discussion is about next steps for collaboration: humanitarian, security, reconstruction. People expect things to change and we all need to collectively ensure lasting peace,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Israel has rejected any role in Gaza for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority.

Major questions remain unanswered over what happens next, raising the risk of a slide back into war, even as the world pushes for peace.

Under the first phase of the deal, Israeli troops pulled back from some parts of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to return home. Aid groups are preparing to bring in large quantities of aid kept out of the territory for months.

The next phase of the deal will have to tackle disarming Hamas, creating a post-war government for Gaza and the extent of Israel’s withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s plan also stipulates that regional and international partners will work to develop the core of a new Palestinian security force.

A major issue is raising funds for rebuilding Gaza. The World Bank and Egypt’s postwar plan estimate reconstruction and recovery needs in Gaza at $53 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2025.

— with files from The Associated Press