Israel-Hamas war: Hate crimes spiked in Canada's Toronto since start of conflict, say police

The Toronto Police said on Friday (Nov 24) that the number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes in the Canadian city spiked significantly since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct 7. Addressing a press conference, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said that 78 hate crimes were reported from Oct 7 to Nov 20, compared to 37 hate crimes in the same period last year.

"The impact of the events in the Middle East on our city is ongoing and has escalated since Oct. 7," Demkiw said.

25 arrested in hate crimes in Toronto since war started

A report by the news agency Reuters said that the number of reported antisemitic hate crimes in this period almost trebled to 38 from 13 last year while those involving the Muslim, Palestinian and Arab population leapt to 17 from just one in 2022.

Since the conflict started, 25 people have been arrested and 64 charges laid about reported hate incidents. Toronto has temporarily boosted the size of its hate crime unit to 29 from the usual six.

Demkiw also told reporters on Friday that hate crimes can traumatise not just victims, but all members of the targeted community and beyond.

Shaky truce underway between Israel & Hamas, hostages expected to be freed

A shaky four-day truce started between Israel and Hamas earlier on Friday involves the release of 13 Israeli women and children held hostage by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

"We hope that the picture will be beautiful at the end of the day," Ziv Agmon, legal adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, told reporters.

Over the course of the truce, at least 50 hostages are expected to be freed with 150 Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange, a report by the news agency AFP said.

Military officials "will meet each hostage and identify them physically and by the lists to see that these are the correct people", Agmon told reporters. The released hostages would also undergo a full physical examination by doctors.

Meanwhile, United Nations agencies also hoped that the truce would allow humanitarian aid to flow to northern Gaza for the first time in weeks.

The agencies said they were aiming to deliver supplies to the northern part of the Palestinian enclave where hospitals have collapsed due to bombings and lack of fuel and where there are major concerns about dehydration and disease outbreaks.

(With inputs from agencies)