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Canada plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The announcement came after France said last week it would recognize the Palestinian state and a day after Britain said it would recognize the state at September's U.N. General Assembly meeting if the fighting in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, had not stopped by then, Reuters reported.
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, according to Reuters.
Carney said the planned recognition was based in part on repeated assurances from the Palestinian Authority, which represents the State of Palestine at the U.N., that it was reforming its governance and is willing to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas "can play no part."