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    • 'All options are on the table': IDF not ruling out ground offensive into Gaza against Hamas

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    Israel is not ruling out a ground offensive into Gaza against Hamas, an international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says.

    In an interview airing Tuesday, Maj. (Res) Ben Wahlhaus told CTV’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos that if the IDF receives operational directives from the Israeli government to launch a ground offensive, “that’s the mission that (they’ll) carry out.â€

    “All options are on the table at the moment,†Wahlhaus said. “Our goal, our priority, is to safeguard our civilians and to do that we need to stop Hamas’ attacks, which are ongoing.â€

    Now into its fourth day, the fighting sparked by Canadian-designated terrorist group Hamas' incursion into Israel and Israeli reprisal strikes has killed and stranded thousands, including Canadian citizens.

    Wahlhaus said Israeli forces have secured the country’s border and have been in the process of going house-to-house in dozens of towns and cities to ensure no Hamas operatives remain in Israel.

    “However long it takes to rid Hamas of its capabilities and its attacks against Israel, that’s what we’ll do,†he said, adding that more than 300,000 reserve soldiers have been called on to join in those efforts.

    Wahlhaus said Israeli forces will “make every effort†to avoid further civilian casualties in Gaza, but that Hamas is creating a “difficult operation†by “purposefully†putting their own civilians in harm’s way.

    “We have no choice but to stop Hamas’ military capabilities,†Wahlhaus said. “It cannot be a situation where hundreds of terrorists are streaming across your border and massacring your civilian population, with thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately into population centres and killing civilians, that is not a situation that anyone can let happen.â€

    “Our fight is not with the civilian population,†he added. “Our fight is with Hamas. But as I said, their war is a war on civilians, and it's on their own too.â€

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has voiced support for Israel, and said at a solidarity gathering in Ottawa Monday that Canada “unequivocally†condemns Hamas’ attacks, echoing comments from several other world leaders.

    “We stand with Israel and reaffirm our support for Israel's right to defend itself, in accordance with international law,†he said.

    According to a statement from Canada’s Department of National Defence on Tuesday, officials “do not anticipate†a need for Canada to assist Israel militarily.

    When asked if that may change the longer fighting continues, Wahlhaus said Israel will continue to defend its civilians, and he expects the situation will be drawn out.

    “This will be a protracted fight,†Wahlhaus said. “Hamas does not make it easy for us in Gaza by deliberately hiding behind the civilian population, by turning a territory that it's governed for 15 years into a terrorist stronghold, full of tunnels and weapons storage sites and mosques and homes and hospitals.â€

    Wahlhaus said there will be “a lot of questions that need to be answered†in the coming weeks and months about how Hamas’ forces were able to carry out such an extensive attack, considering the level of sophistication of Israel’s defence and intelligence systems.

    But he added the current focus is on defending civilians and stopping further infiltration attempts by Hamas.

    “They want this to be a protracted fight,†Wahlhaus said. “They want more civilians to suffer, but we are not afraid of that, and we will make sure that the job is done.â€

    Maj. (Res) Ben Wahlhaus’s full interview with Kapelos is in the video at the top of this article.

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    • A man accused of driving his truck into a march for B.C. residential school survivors two years ago has been found guilty of dangerous driving.

    • On Sept. 20, Justice R.E. Nation of the Alberta Court of King's Bench found Craig McMorran guilty of fraud, money laundering and stealing a cottage from its rightful owners.

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    • BC Conservative leader John Rustad dropped a major policy plan Sunday, pledging to eliminate supervised drug consumption sites across B.C. and replace them with intake centres for treatment and recovery.

    • B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to refund a family in full for their diverted flight and compensate them for associated costs.

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    • A rainfall warning is in effect for Toronto and many other regions across southern Ontario with Environment Canada calling for up to 50 millimetres of rainfall over a period of less than 24 hours.

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    • The City of Ottawa says it is recruiting a 'nightlife council' to aid the city's recently appointed nightlife commissioner.

    • A fire in a container at one of the Port of Montreal's terminals prompted the city to issue a containment notice for the area adjacent to the port on Monday evening, in the Mercier--Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

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    • Alberta is one of the few provinces without the ability to seize a vehicle traveling 50 km/h over the speed limit.

    • Public health officials in Prince Edward Island are investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness reported among 50 people who attended a shellfish festival over the weekend.

    • A man in his 60s was struck by an SUV and killed while walking on Wheeler Boulevard in Moncton, N.B., late Monday afternoon.

    • The Fredericton Police Force is warning people to stay away from part of the city due to bear sightings Tuesday morning.

    • It was a tragic ending to the search for a six-year-old boy in northeastern Manitoba who had been missing since Wednesday.

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    • Monday marked the official start of Reconciliation Week in Lethbridge.

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    • Officials in the City of Timmins say the state of Municipal Road, which connects Timmins and Iroquois Falls, is well beyond the patch-up phase.

    • After playing the lottery for more than 40 years, a Greater Sudbury woman made a huge windfall playing a scratch ticket game.

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