Canada says it will recognize the Palestinian state in September if a number of conditions are met in Gaza. Earlier this week, France and the United Kingdom said they wanted to do the same. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wants elections without Hamas, among other things.
Furthermore, he demands that Hamas demilitarize the area and that the Palestinian Authority, the official governing body of the Palestinian Territories, fundamentally change the government. Carney also accuses the Israeli government of allowing a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza.
“The human suffering in Gaza is unbearable and the situation is rapidly deteriorating,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday. Earlier that day, he spoke with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.
The prime minister has been under pressure for some time to recognize the Palestinian state. For example, almost two hundred former Canadian ambassadors and diplomats signed a letter calling on Carney to do so.
Israel condemns the prime minister’s intention and says that it undermines “efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages.” According to a White House spokesman, Trump shares this view.
A day earlier, the United Kingdom also announced that it wanted to recognize the Palestinian state, but that message seemed mainly aimed at Israel. In order to prevent recognition of the Palestinian state, the country must “take substantial steps to end the horrific situation in Gaza,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The UK also wants a ceasefire, an end to annexations in the West Bank and a peace process that leads to a two-state solution in the long term. With such a solution, Israel and Palestine would exist side by side as two independent states.
France was the first of the G7 countries (the consultation group of economic powers) last week to say it would recognize the Palestinian state. It symbolizes the increasingly critical attitude that European countries are taking towards Israel.
At the end of September, the member states of the United Nations will meet during the General Assembly in New York. There, countries can announce that they recognize the State of Palestine.
Currently, more than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a number of EU member states. But because of the historical, good ties with Israel, many Western countries, including the Netherlands and the United States, do not recognize Palestine.