Montreal, Canada – Canada has refused to comment on a proposed U.S. sale of Canadian weapons to Israel after news of the deal faced fierce opposition from human rights activists who argue the weapons would help fuel Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians.

In a brief statement to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, a spokesman for Canada’s foreign ministry, Global Affairs Canada, said they would “not speculate on a possible sale of foreign arms by the United States.”

“Since January 8, the Canadian government has not issued any new arms export licenses to Israel, and this remains the policy of the Canadian federal government,” it said.

Canada announced earlier this year that it would not issue any new arms export permits to Israel in light of mass protests against the war in the Gaza Strip, in which more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly eleven months.

However, human rights activists were quick to point out that Canada had not revoked existing arms export licenses, nor did the ban affect Canadian weapons and components shipped first to the United States and then to Israel.

These deliveries to the United States are difficult to trace because the North American neighbors have had a preferential trading relationship for decades, allowing them to more easily exchange military weapons and related components.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that a company based in the Canadian province of Quebec would be the prime contractor in a possible deal to supply munitions worth $61.1 million to Israel.

The company, called General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., is expected to supply tens of thousands of “M933A1 120mm explosive mortar rounds and related equipment,” the agency said in a statement. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026.

Michael Bueckert, vice-president of the advocacy group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), told Al Jazeera that the Canadian government had “a responsibility” to stop the shipment.

“If Canada knowingly allows arms shipments to Israel while claiming to prevent such things, it destroys its entire credibility,” he said.

Bueckert added that the fact that experts accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza also showed “that they were more concerned with public relations than with taking measures to prevent complicity in genocide.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), another advocacy group, also called on Canada to prevent the transfer.

“Any other decision would render the government’s previous gun ban ineffective,” CEO Stephen Brown said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Monday, the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) released a statement publicly opposing the sale and saying it was “appalled” by Canada’s involvement.

“Canada must not support the ongoing genocide in Gaza with Canadian-made weapons,” said Heather McPherson, a member of Canadian Parliament and NDP foreign policy critic.

“By refusing to end its arms sales to Israel and by allowing loopholes for arms shipments through the United States, Canada could potentially be complicit in war crimes.”

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., the Canadian company involved in the sale, did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Legal experts say Canada is violating its obligations under international law to prohibit arms sales to countries where there is a serious risk that the equipment could be used to commit human rights violations.

For example, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), a United Nations pact to which Canada is also a signatory, prohibits the supply of weapons if states know that the weapons could be used for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other violations of international law.

The UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has already declared that there is a “plausible” risk that Israel will commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Human rights groups have also documented numerous attacks by the Israeli military on Palestinian civilians, journalists and humanitarian workers throughout the enclave since the war began.

Against this background, in March a group of Palestinian Canadians and human rights lawyers sued Canada for exporting military equipment to Israel.

“We want Canada to comply with its own standards and its international legal obligations,” Henry Off, board member of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), one of the groups involved in the case, told Al Jazeera at the time.

“We do not want the Canadian government to contribute to mass starvation and the bombing of Gaza.”

But as Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip drags on,Human rights activists also urged the government to close the “loopholes” that allow the country to supply weapons to the United States with less oversight and fewer reporting requirements.

According to Bueckert, the Canadian government is not taking the concerns of its citizens seriously and is not taking any real steps to address their demands for an end to arms sales to Israel.

“I think they have been really dismissive and condescending to the concerns of Canadians about the very real and dangerous supply of military equipment to Israel,” Bueckert told Al Jazeera.

“I think Canada in general does not take seriously the legal consequences of its complicity in genocide.”