Smoke rises at the site of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.Photo by Hussein Malla/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Most Canadians say citizens who stay in high-risk conflict zones don't deserve government protection: poll

But 49 per cent of Canadians ages 18-24 said Canada has a responsibility to citizens in conflict zones

by · National Post

As Ottawa continues to airlift hundreds of Canadians out of Lebanon this weekend, a new Leger survey shows slightly more than half of Canadians (52 per cent) think Canada does not owe protection to citizens who decide to stay in conflict zones despite warnings to leave.

According to the survey, only a third (34 per cent) think the federal government has a responsibility to protect and evacuate its citizens.

I want the world to know what Hamas did to me in the tunnelsThey were locked deep down in the tunnels for days. The terrorists went up because there was not enough oxygen to breathe. There was never enough water. They slept on filthy mattresses, in their filthy clothes. They were tortured and starved, sometimes given half a pita or two dates. The terrorists would eat and drink in front of them. “Once they ate a piece of fish and we had two teaspoons from it. It was delicious. Someone who knows how to cook, one of the mothers of the terrorists, I guess. It was the best thing I ate there,” says Aviva Siegel, who spent 51 days held captive by Hamas underground in tunnels and in terrorist homes in 13 locations in Gaza.Karin Kloosterman, Special to National Post, 02 Oct 2024What to know about Hezbollah and its connections to Iran and HamasIsrael is intensifying its ground operations in southern Lebanon, which are aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s military installations after a year of rocket attacks launched by the terrorist organization.Ehsanullah Amiri, 02 Oct 2024