Canada to recognize State of Palestine at UN meeting in September
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R), flanked by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30. — AFP
Canada plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza.
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.
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.
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, 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.
"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," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments after the French and British announcements.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump also sees recognition of the State of Palestine as wrongly "rewarding Hamas."
US Senate rejects bids to block arms sales to Israel
Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the US Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year.
Read: UAE begins Gaza water pipeline project
The two resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats. They failed by 73 to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber in voting late on Wednesday night.
Similar measures, also introduced by Sanders, failed by 82-15 and 83-15 in April.
A decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress means resolutions to stop weapons sales are unlikely to pass, but backers hope raising the issue will encourage Israel's government and the US administration to do more to protect civilians.
All of the votes for the resolutions came from Democrats, with all of President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans opposed. Sanders said in a statement he was pleased that a majority of the Democratic caucus had backed the effort.
Netanyahu is a disgusting liar.
Children are starving to death.
The United States cannot continue to supply his racist government with hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid that is used to kill innocent people."The tide is turning. The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," Sanders said. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was one of the Democrats who opposed the Sanders-backed resolutions in April but voted for them this time.
Shaheen said in a statement that Israel has a right to defend its citizens, but added: "it is clear that the Government of Israel has not conducted its military operations in Gaza with the necessary care required by international humanitarian law. It is also clear that the Government of Israel has failed to allow adequate humanitarian assistance into Gaza, resulting in unbelievable suffering."
The resolutions would have blocked the sale of $675 million in bombs and shipments of 20,000 assault rifles.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss Gaza. Trump said this week he expected centers to be set up to feed more people in the enclave.
The State of Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly since 2012, recognized by more than three-quarters of the assembly's 193 member states.
Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy US national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said recognition of Palestine is intended "to increase pressure on Israel to compel it to return to a two-state paradigm." But he said Canada's announcement is "unlikely to be anything more than symbolic and risks undermining their relationship with a longtime ally in Israel."
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."
Read more: Britain warns Israel it will recognise Palestinian state as Gaza starvation spreads
Israeli security cabinet member Zeev Elkin said on Wednesday that Israel could threaten to annex parts of Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, eroding Palestinian hopes of statehood on land Israel now occupies.
Mediation efforts to secure a 60-day ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas ground to a halt last week.
In Gaza, resident Saed al-Akhras said the recognition of Palestine by major powers marked a "real shift in how Western countries view the Palestinian cause."
"Enough!" he said. "Palestinians have lived for more than 70 years under killing, destruction and occupation, while the world watches in silence."
Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza appealed for no recognition of a Palestinian state to come before their loved ones were returned.
"Such recognition is not a step toward peace but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimizes horrific war crimes," the Hostages Family Forum said.
Netanyahu said this month 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.
His cabinet includes far-right members who openly demand the annexation of all Palestinian land. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that reestablishing Jewish settlements in Gaza was "closer than ever," calling Gaza "an inseparable part of the Land of Israel."
Aid going in but not enough
A 2-year-old girl being treated for a build-up of brain fluid died overnight of hunger, her father told Reuters on Wednesday.
"Doctors said the baby has to be fed a certain type of milk," Salah al-Gharably said by phone from Deir Al-Balah. "But there is no milk. She starved. We stood helpless."
The deaths from starvation and malnutrition overnight raised the toll from such causes to 154, according to the Gaza health ministry, including at least 89 children, since the war's start, most of them in recent weeks.
Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine.
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."
Gaza death toll climbs
At least 34 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across Gaza since dawn, including 15 people reportedly seeking aid, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic.
The rising death toll comes as US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Israel for meetings aimed at addressing the situation in Gaza.
Citing Hebrew-language media, The Times of Israel reported that Witkoff is also expected to visit Gaza during his trip. He will reportedly inspect humanitarian aid distribution sites operated by the GHF, a group supported by both the US and Israeli governments.
US officials said Witkoff will meet Israeli officials “to discuss next steps in addressing the situation in Gaza.”