Palestinians climb in the back of a truck on a coastal path west of Beit Lahia after managing to get aid parcels on Tuesday.OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP/Getty Images
The Canadian government is weighing whether to follow British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in saying it will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire, a source familiar with the matter said.
The Gaza Strip, the target of a prolonged Israeli military offensive, will be among the items on the agenda for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet meeting Wednesday. The Prime Minister’s Office said it will include the state of trade negotiations with the United States along with “the situation in the Middle East.”
The source emphasized that no decision has been made on joining Mr. Starmer with a statement.
The Globe is not naming the source, who was not authorized to discuss these matters publicly.
Such a recognition would likely anger Israel, a long-time ally of Canada’s, and disrupt bilateral relations between the two countries. Mr. Carney, in a letter with French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr. Starmer this spring, promised they would take “concrete action” if Israel did not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions.
Recognizing Palestine as a state would benefit the drive by Palestinians for broader recognition in the international community.
Mr. Starmer said on Tuesday Britain was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in response to growing public anger over images of starving children in Gaza.
The British leader set out several caveats.
He said Britain would make the move unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid to enter Gaza, made clear there will be no annexation of the West Bank and committed to a long-term peace process that delivers a “two-state solution” – a Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel.
“The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering,” Mr. Starmer told reporters. “Now, in Gaza, because of a catastrophic failure of aid, we see starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime. The suffering must end.”
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The British leader spoke a day after talks in Scotland with U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he did “not mind” if Britain recognized a Palestinian state, though Washington – Israel’s closest ally – has long declined to do so.
Britain, if it acts, would become the second Western power on the United Nations Security Council to do so after France made a similar promise last week, reflecting Israel’s deepening isolation over its conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, where a humanitarian disaster has set in and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.
France said that in September it would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly.
Mr. Carney spoke with Mr. Starmer on Tuesday. The Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders “focused on the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza, as well as the United Kingdom’s statement on the recognition of a Palestinian state.”
“Prime Minister Carney underscored Canada’s commitment to lasting peace and reiterated the imperative of an immediate ceasefire,” the PMO said. “He was clear that Canada remains unwavering in our call for Hamas to release all hostages and that Hamas can play no role in the governance of a Palestinian state.”
The leaders discussed the need for international co-operation to ensure the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to starving civilians in Gaza, the PMO said.
Canada’s policy toward Israel appears to be shifting under Mr. Carney, who took office in March.
In June, Canada joined 148 other countries in voting in favour of a United Nations resolution that calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza, despite opposition to the motion from the U.S. and Israel.
The vote took place days after Ottawa imposed sanctions against two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers for “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank, in a rare rebuke to an allied country.
Israeli ambassador rejects Carney’s criticism of aid delivery in Gaza
Last week, Mr. Carney called on Israel to give up control of aid delivery to Gaza as reports grow of mass starvation in the territory.
“Canada condemns the Israeli government’s failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza,” Mr. Carney said in a post on X Thursday.
“Israel’s control of aid distribution must be replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations,” he said.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Mr. Carney on Monday said Canada has always supported a two-state solution to the conflict “with a free and viable Palestine” living “side by side in peace and security” with Israel. “We will work with the international community, will work with others, to move towards a situation of a cease fire, a two-state solution that meets those criteria that I just mentioned, [and] that does not include Hamas in any role in a future Palestinian state – and we will take steps that advance those fundamental principles at the appropriate time.”
Noah Shack, chief executive of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy group, said recognizing Palestine as a state before certain conditions have been met is wrong.
“Unilateral recognition is a hollow gesture that undermines the prospects for peace and security desperately needed by Palestinians and Israelis alike,” Mr. Shack said in a statement. “Hamas has exploited its failed pseudo-state in Gaza for years, creating the current tragic situation.”
He said recognizing Palestine without the return of hostages, without disarming Hamas and “fundamental reforms to Palestinian democracy and society risks legitimizing Hamas and perpetuating the violence.”
Britain’s Mr. Starmer said his government would make an assessment in September on “how far the parties have met these steps,” but that no one would have a veto over the decision.
With a report from Reuters