Canada's Trudeau condemns violent anti-Israel protests as NATO meets in Montreal

Videos and pictures posted to social media showed masked rioters burning flares and battering storefront windows.

By REUTERS NOVEMBER 23, 2024 21:44

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada January 29, 2024 (photo credit: REUTERS/BLAIR GABLE)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday condemned violence and antisemitism at anti-NATO and anti-Israel protests in downtown Montreal on Friday night, where NATO delegates have gathered for the alliance's annual assembly.

Around 300 delegates from NATO members and partner states are meeting in Montreal from November 22-25.

Local media reported that protesters burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lit smoke bombs, and set two vehicles on fire.

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd, and three people were arrested for assaulting officers and obstructing police work, according to CTV News.

Videos and pictures posted to social media showed masked rioters burning flares and battering storefront windows.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes remarks during a pro-Israel rally at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 9, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/BLAIR GABLE)

"What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them," Trudeau said in a post on social media website X.

Montreal police said officers carried out a dispersal operation in the downtown area and that the protest was over by 7 p.m. ET.

Protests have been taking place throughout Canada since the war started

Anti-Israel protests have been taking place across Canada since the Israel-Gaza war started late last year.

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The war was launched in response to an attack by Hamas terrorists who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on October 7, 2023.