The number of calls received by the police daily in Toronto regarding alleged hate crimes has risen by 132% since October 7, according to the chief of police in Canada's largest city, Myron Demkiw.

It is noteworthy that Hamas launched a surprise large-scale attack on southern Israel at dawn on the mentioned date, resulting in 1,400 deaths, most of whom were civilians, including six Canadians, and over 200 hostages according to Israeli authorities. Since then, there has been intense and widespread Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, resulting in over 3,700 deaths, most of whom were civilians according to Hamas. The Israeli army has also tightened the siege around the Gaza Strip and completed preparations aimed at its invasion.

Demkiw had announced a week ago that the Toronto police enhanced their presence in areas with a Jewish population as well as near mosques in the capital of Ontario, adding that there was "no credible threat" in the city.

The police also confirmed that there were 14 hate crimes in the city between October 7 and 9, compared to 5 cases during the same period in 2022 and 1 case during the same period in 2021.

The police chief stated that 12 of the 14 cases during the mentioned period this month fall into the category of antisemitism, while Muslims were targeted in the other two cases.

Demkiw also added that the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in Toronto from January 1 to October 7 of this year reached 237 cases, compared to 192 cases last year.