By Maayan Lubell, Nidal al-Mughrabi and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA/JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) -Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, adding more pressure on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens.
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 the UN if the fighting in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, had not stopped by then.
“We are working ourselves with others, to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, to not allow the facts on the ground, deaths on the ground, the settlements on the ground, the expropriations on the ground, to get to such an extent that this is not possible,” Carney said.
He told reporters the planned move was predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to reforms, including commitments to reform its governance and to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas “can play no part.”
The announcements by some of Israel’s closest allies reflect the growing international outrage over the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 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 rejects the statement by the Prime Minister of Canada,” said Israel’s foreign ministry in a statement.
“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.”
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “As the president stated, he would be rewarding Hamas if he recognizes a Palestinian state, and he doesn’t think they should be rewarded. So he is not going to do that. President Trump’s focus is on getting people fed (in Gaza).”
The official did not respond to a question on whether the U.S. was given advance notice of Carney’s announcement.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss the next steps to address the situation in Gaza, a U.S. official said. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week he expects centers to be set up in order to feed more people in the enclave.
POSSIBLE ULTIMATUM TO HAMAS
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli security cabinet member Zeev Elkin said Israel could threaten to annex parts of Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, an idea that would deal a blow to Palestinian hopes of statehood on land Israel now occupies.
Accusing Hamas of trying to drag out ceasefire talks to gain Israeli concessions, Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that Israel may give the group an ultimatum to reach a deal before further expanding its military actions.
“The most painful thing for our enemy is losing lands,” he said. “A clarification to Hamas that the moment they play games with us they will lose land that they will never get back would be a significant pressure tool.”
Mediation efforts aimed at reaching a deal that would secure a 60-day ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas ground to a halt last week, with the sides trading blame for the impasse.
Though recognition of a Palestinian state is largely seen as a symbolic move, Gazan man Saed al-Akhras said he hoped it marked a “real shift in how Western countries view the Palestinian cause.”
“Enough! Palestinians have lived for more than 70 years under killing, destruction, and occupation, while the world watches in silence,” he said.
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 legitimises horrific war crimes,” the Hostages Family Forum said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Britain’s decision “rewards Hamas’ monstrous terrorism.” Israel made similar comments last week after France’s announcement.
Two Hamas officials did not respond to requests for comment on the demand for the group to hand its weapons to the PA, which now has limited control of parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas has previously rejected calls to disarm, while Israel has ruled out letting the PA run Gaza.
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 figures 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.
“Mekkah, my little daughter, died of malnutrition and the lack of medication,” Salah al-Gharably said by phone from Deir Al-Balah. “Doctors said the baby has to be fed a certain type of milk… but there is no milk,” he said. “She starved. We stood helpless.”
The deaths from starvation and malnutrition overnight raised the toll from such causes to 154, including at least 89 children, since the war’s start, most 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 U.N. 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 attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage, 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.
(Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Tom Perry and Don Durfee; Editing by Alison Williams, Bill Berkrot and Chris Reese)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.