Canadaplans to recognize Palestinian state, raising allies’ pressure on Israel

Canada plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations (UN) in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza.

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The announcement came after France said last week it would recognize a Palestinian state and a day after Britain said it would recognize 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.

Mr. Carney told reporters 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.

Mr. Carney said the planned recognition was based in part on repeated assurances from the Palestinian Authority, which represents the State of Palestine at the UN, that it was reforming its governance and is willing to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas “can play no part.”

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 militants, and the dire humanitarian crisis there. A global hunger monitor has warned that a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in the enclave.

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 coming into the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel and its closest ally, the US, both rejected Carney’s statements.