18 hours ago
Last Updated:July 31, 2025, 07:12 IST
Canada will recognise the State of Palestine at the UN in September, citing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This comes despite sharp opposition from Israel and the US.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (Photo: AP)
Canada has announced it will recognise the State of Palestine in September at a meeting of the United Nations. The announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney came on Wednesday, as the country put up pressure on Israel amid the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters, Carney said that the reality on the ground, including starvation of people in Gaza, meant “the prospect of a Palestinian state is literally receding before our eyes."
“Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza," he said.
Carney said the planned recognition was based in part on repeated assurances from the Palestinian Authority, which represents the State of Palestine at the United Nations, that it was reforming its governance and is willing to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas “can play no part."
Canada’s announcement falls in line with France, which, last week, had announced that it would recognise a Palestinian state.
A day before, Britain had said it would recognise the state at September’s UN General Assembly meeting if the fighting in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, had not stopped by then.
ISRAEL AND THE US’s REACTIONS
As more nations announced they would recognise the State of Palestine, Israel and its closest ally, the United States, rejected the statements, specifically those of Carney’s.
In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said, “The change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments after the French and British announcements.
Earlier this month, he said he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, so control of security must remain with Israel.
A White House official said President Donald Trump also sees recognition of the State of Palestine as wrongly “rewarding Hamas."
However, French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Carney before Canada’s announcement, said the recognition of Palestine will “revive a prospect of peace in the region."
OUTRAGE OVER ISRAEL’S RESTRICTION ON FOOD IN GAZA
The announcements by some of Israel’s closest allies reflect growing international outrage over Israel’s restrictions on food and other aid to Gaza in its war against Hamas, and the dire humanitarian crisis there.
A global hunger monitor has warned that a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in the enclave, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry reported seven more hunger-related deaths on Wednesday, including a two-year-old girl with an existing health condition.
The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said the Israeli military killed at least 50 people within three hours on Wednesday as they tried to get food from UN aid trucks entering the northern Gaza Strip.
The State of Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly since 2012, recognised by more than three-quarters of the assembly’s 193 member states.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations and its partners had been able to bring more food into Gaza in the first two days of pauses, but the volume was “still far from enough."
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led attacks on communities and military bases in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed, including more than 700 civilians, and another 251 taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 60,000 people and laid waste to much of the territory, the Gaza health ministry says.
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Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
News world Canada Says 'Will Recognise Palestinian State' In September Amid Growing Gaza Crisis
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