Canada joins France and UK with plan to recognise Palestinian state
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that his country intends to formally recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly in September, following similar announcements by France and the United Kingdom.
Carney told reporters late on Wednesday that his decision was based on a pledge by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to commit to essential reforms, including to "hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarise the Palestinian state."
Carney said that Canada had long been committed to a two-state solution as part of a negotiated peace process, but "this approach is no longer tenable."
"The prospect of a Palestinian state is being eroded before our eyes," he said.
The Canadian prime minister also lamented the dire situation in Gaza where nearly 160 Palestinian adults and children have died from starvation since Israel's launched its onslaught in October 2023.
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"The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable and its rapidly deteriorating," Carney said.
"Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Thousands more are on the brink of famine. Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has let the situation deteriorate in Gaza to this extent," he added.
Earlier this week, a UN-backed global food security body said famine was unfolding across the besieged enclave, with one in three children in Gaza City acutely malnourished.
"Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a new report.
"Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point."
Canada's plan follows similar announcements by France and the UK to formally recognise Palestine.
Earlier on Wednesday, New Zealand and Australia were also signatories to a declaration that indicates they could follow suit in the coming months.
The New York Call, published by French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said 15 states will "reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders."
The signatories include Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal and San Marino, each of which have not yet recognised an independent Palestinian state.
The other countries were Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Spain, which have.
Trump threatens Canada
Following Carney's announcement, Israel's ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said that his country would "not bow to the distorted campaign of international pressure against it."
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed that it would be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada after it announced its support for Palestinian statehood.
"Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh' Canada!!!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
The US has rejected moves to recognise a Palestinian state, saying the policy rewards Hamas. The Trump administration has been uncompromising in its support for Israel, despite accusations by UN experts and rights groups that the US ally is committing a genocide against Palestinians.
Trump himself has said that starvation was clearly taking place in Gaza, despite Israeli denials.
His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday for ceasefire and aid talks.
With Wednesday's announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during the same UN meeting.
His plan goes a step further than the announcement made by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this week, who said the UK would only formally recognise the State of Palestine if Israel failed to take various "substantive steps," including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
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