Israeli military, settlers damaged aid projects backed by Canada: documents

OTTAWA — Canada has contributed to dozens of aid projects in the Palestinian territories that have since been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military and Israeli settlers, according to a document tabled Monday in Parliament.

"We're complicit and I just I can't stand it," said NDP MP Heather McPherson. "These are schools. These are water projects. These are roads. These are projects that Canadian taxpayers paid for."

The Edmonton MP submitted a formal request earlier this year for data from Global Affairs Canada on the scale of damage to humanitarian and development projects.

McPherson said the document tabled in the House of Commons on Monday shows Canada has been allowing Israel to bomb schools and water plants in the Gaza Strip, while settlers in the West Bank have destroyed solar panels, latrines and homes.

The document shows 170 projects which received at least $3.68 million in funding from other countries, including Canada, have been destroyed, damaged or abandoned in the West Bank alone.

That's according to data Ottawa provided through the West Bank Protection Consortium, a coalition of major aid organizations. The Canadian Press could not independently verify the data.

Palestinian students walk to school using an alternative route that is nearly twice as long because a fence separates their village from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel, near the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The documents show multiple sanitation, education and shelter projects have been destroyed, damaged, confiscated or abandoned due to forced displacement.

The document said some projects were not built because Israeli occupation officials would not provide permits in the West Bank. It also cited "damage to (a) refurbished women's shelter caused by arson and vandalism" in Gaza.

As for projects in Gaza, Ottawa "does not have estimates of the costs of the infrastructure or activities that were damaged, destroyed, or otherwise impacted," the department said, citing the security situation and Israeli restrictions on who can enter the territory.

Israel has faced persistent criticism for banning virtually all foreign media from accessing Gaza, a ban Reporters Without Borders says is unprecedented in modern conflict. Israeli officials also tightly control how aid groups access the Gaza Strip and Israeli airstrikes have killed aid workers.

Israeli officials insist they avoid damaging critical civilian infrastructure and that their focus is on routing terrorist elements from Gaza and the West Bank. Numerous human rights groups say that's not the case, pointing to widespread damage to schools, wells and medical services.

The document says the Carney government hasn't decided whether it will demand compensation from Israel.

"The decision to demand financial compensation from Israel for damaged or demolished Canadian-funded development projects is still under consideration," the document reads. "Decisions to fund the replacement of aid-funded projects in Palestine that have been demolished are still under consideration."

Palestinians check the damage to a mosque that, according to residents, was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank village of Bazariya, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

The document also says Canada has discussed the damage with Israeli officials. McPherson noted Ottawa hasn't actually condemned Israeli actions.

"Canada has regularly raised concerns with Israeli authorities regarding damage to and destruction of development assistance projects," says the document tabled Monday. "Canada expects all parties, including Israel, to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian infrastructure."

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said Palestinians continue to experience "unimaginable hardship."

"We are deeply concerned by the continued obstructions of humanitarian access, including the ongoing denial or delay of essential items — such as medical equipment and prosthetics, shelter supplies and fuel," Rachael Dolan said in a statement late Tuesday.

Dolan added that Canada has "consistently expressed its profound condemnation of damage to international assistance projects and civilian infrastructure in Palestine."

McPherson said Canada should follow the European Union's example and demand that Israel pay to repair the infrastructure it has damaged, along with damage to projects that the Israeli military has allowed settlers to inflict.

"We've seen other countries ask for compensation for what was destroyed, and Canada is not even doing that," she said, repeating her party's call for the suspension of all trade with Israel.

Monday's disclosure follows comments by the United Nations official overseeing water, sanitation and children's welfare in the Gaza Strip.

In a July interview, Jonathan Veitch said the Israeli military's destruction of water facilities — and rules barring the construction of infrastructure — was forcing Canada to spend precious aid money on water trucks instead of building basic infrastructure.

Palestinians survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

The document released Monday also suggests Israel has drafted a report on a July 2024 incident where Israeli soldiers filmed themselves blowing up a water facility in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military previously said this occurred during work "to destroy terrorist infrastructures and eliminate terrorists, while mitigating damage to civilian infrastructures."

The water facility, known as the Canada Well, sits in an area where Canadian foreign aid in Gaza had been focused for decades. Global Affairs Canada said it cannot find evidence that the well was funded by Canada, though the government has asked Israel to probe the matter.

"Israel has produced an internal report on their investigation," the document says. "Global Affairs Canada is not permitted to disclose the findings of an internal report published by another government."

McPherson said there is no good reason to keep those findings from Canadians.

"The destruction of the of things like water treatment — those are war crimes," she said. "That is such a serious thing, and to have the Canadian government not be open and transparent, and not be willing to condemn that, feels so misguided."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press