Canada To Recognize Palestine at UN

By Staff, Agencies

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will formally recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. This move follows a declaration co-signed by France and 14 other countries signaling growing support for Palestinian state.

Canada’s plans follow similar announcements by France and the UK to formally recognize Palestine, while New Zealand and Australia were also signatories to a declaration that indicates they could follow suit in the coming months.

The New York Call, published by the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, on Wednesday, said signatories “have already recognized, have expressed or express the willingness or the positive consideration of our countries to recognize the State of Palestine”.

The signatories include Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal and San Marino, each of which has not yet recognized an independent Palestinian state. They also include Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Spain, which have.

Emmanuel Macron last week said that France would recognize Palestinian statehood in the near future.

The statement, which was published before the conclusion of a three-day UN conference set on reviving a two-state solution to the "Israeli"-Palestinian conflict, said the states would “reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution where two democratic states, "Israel" and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders”.

It stressed the “importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority”.

On Wednesday evening, Carney said Canada would recognize the state of Palestine at the UN general assembly in September if certain conditions were met. He held a virtual cabinet meeting on the Middle East earlier on Wednesday.

Carney said Canada would recognize Palestine if the Palestinian Authority, the body that governs the occupied West Bank, held an election in 2026 in which Hamas could play no part, and agreed to other democratic reforms.

He called on Hamas to release all captives it is holding, disarm, and play no role in the future governance of Palestine.