Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September, becoming the third G7 nation to make such an announcement in recent days.
Carney said such a move would depend on democratic reforms, including the Palestinian Authority holding elections next year without Hamas.
His remarks come a day after the UK announced it would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire and other conditions and a week after France made a similar announcement.
Most countries – nearly 150 of the UN’s 193 member states – formally recognise a Palestinian state.
Carney cited the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas as reasons behind Canada’s dramatic shift in foreign policy.
He told Wednesday’s news conference: “The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable and it is rapidly deteriorating.”
He said a recognition of Palestinian statehood would hinge on commitments by the Palestinian Authority to fundamentally reform its governance, to hold general elections in 2026 without Hamas and to demilitarise the territory.
He added that Canada had long been committed to a two-state solution as part of a negotiated peace process, but said that “this approach is no longer tenable”.
“The prospect of a Palestinian state is being eroded before our eyes,” he said.
Carney added that he had spoken with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier on Wednesday about the announcement.
The prime minister has been under pressure in recent days to address Palestinian statehood, after the UK and France – close allies of Canada – came out with their own statements on the issue.
Nearly 200 former Canadian ambassadors and diplomats signed a letter on Tuesday calling on Carney to recognise a Palestinian state.
The letter, shared with Canadian media outlets on Wednesday, said Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza violated Canada’s interests and values.
Canada’s principles, it said, “are being abandoned daily with the massive displacement, indiscriminate bombardment and starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the violent attacks by extremist settlers in the West Bank”.
Recognition of a Palestinian state, the letter said, “will not only reinforce our long-standing commitment to the self-determination of the Palestinian people but also our total rejection of any effort to displace or expel Palestinians”.
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