Jacques Cartier Bridge completely closed due to demonstration for Palestine

Traffic on the Jacques Cartier Bridge has resumed after a demonstration in support of Palestine closed the bridge in both directions early Thursday morning.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) says it is onsite but would not confirm any other details.

About 100 demonstrators on the bridge are waving Palestinian flags and holding up signs that say “Free Palestine” and “Stop funding genocide.”

“We are here in solidarity with Gaza because we cannot be silent and let business-as-usual continue,” said Rachel Barker, one of the participants. “Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau and [Minister of Foreign Affairs] Mélanie Joly…[are providing] ongoing diplomatic and material support for the relentless bombing of a besieged population of 2.2 million Palestinians that has been under a 16-year blockade and a 56-year occupation.”

This comes as Palestinians in parts of southern Gaza say they received evacuation notices on Thursday.

Fighting is expected to expand towards the south after Israeli forces began searching Shifa Hospital in north Gaza, where they claim Hamas militants operate — a claim that Hamas and hospital staff deny.

Only a quarter of Gaza’s hospitals are still functioning, either because they have been damaged or because they ran out of fuel, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

“Hospitals, ambulances, refugee camps, schools have been bombed; a complete siege is depriving the population of Gaza of water, fuel, food, electricity, communication and health care with the support of our government,” said Adam Barnes, a physician taking part in the demonstration. “In Gaza, a child is killed every ten minutes. As health workers, we have a moral responsibility to act to stop this genocide.”

More than 11,200 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and children — have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.

“Through economic disruptions and occupations, we interrupt our complicity in the ongoing killing of Palestinians,” said demonstrator Heba Shabi. “Our action is grounded in the fact that from Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) to Palestine, occupation is a crime.”

A demonstration in support of Palestine closes the Jacques Cartier Bridge in both directions. (CTV News)

More locally, the demonstration on the bridge is just the latest in a string of events in Montreal related to the conflict overseas.

Sunday, thousands of people marched downtown to demand a ceasefire after reports of deadly strikes in and around Gaza City’s main hospital.

A violent conflict at Concordia University between supporters of Palestine and Israel forced the school to ban two people from stepping foot on campus.

In addition, the Montreal police (SPVM) Metro unit launched an investigation after posters depicting the Israel-Hamas war were plastered in over a dozen stations.

The Jacques Cartier Bridge is one of the main traffic arteries between Montreal and the South Shore.

— with files from The Associated Press.