Israel, US say recognition "rewards Hamas"

Canada has announced it will recognize the State of Palestine at a United Nations meeting in September, joining France and the United Kingdom in a coordinated diplomatic push that signals mounting international frustration with Israel over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that Canada’s decision came in response to the worsening crisis, including the starvation of civilians in Gaza. “The prospect of a Palestinian state is literally receding before our eyes,” Carney told reporters. “Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza.”

Carney added that the decision followed “repeated assurances” from the Palestinian Authority that it is reforming its governance and will exclude Hamas from upcoming general elections planned for 2026.

The announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the UK would recognize Palestine at September’s UN General Assembly unless Israel moves swiftly to end the suffering in Gaza, reach a ceasefire with Hamas, and recommit to a two-state solution. France declared its intention to recognize Palestinian statehood last week, with President Emmanuel Macron saying the move was necessary to “revive a prospect of peace in the region.”

What is the two-state solution?

WHAT ARE TWO-STATE SOLUTION’S ORIGINS?

Conflict occurred in British-ruled Palestine between Arabs and Jews who had migrated to the area, seeking a national home as they fled antisemitic persecution in Europe and citing biblical ties to the land throughout centuries in exile.

In 1947, the United Nations agreed a plan partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with international rule over Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, which gave them 56% of the land. The Arab League rejected it.

The state of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948. A day later, five Arab states attacked. The war ended with Israel controlling 77% of the territory.

Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In a 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, securing control of all territory from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley.

Although 147 of the 193 U.N. member states already recognise Palestine as a state, it is not itself a U.N. member, meaning most Palestinians are not recognised by the world body as citizens of any state. Around 3.5 million live as refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and 5.5 million live in territories captured by Israel in 1967. Another 2 million live in Israel as Israeli citizens.

HAS A DEAL EVER BEEN CLOSE?

The two-state solution was the bedrock of the U.S.-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The accords led the PLO to recognise Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence, and to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinians hoped this would be a step towards an independent state, with East Jerusalem as the capital.

The process suffered heavy pushback on both sides.

Hamas, an Islamist movement, carried out suicide attacks that killed scores of Israelis, and in 2007 seized Gaza from the PA in a brief civil war. Hamas’ 1988 charter advocates Israel’s demise, though in recent years it has said it would accept a Palestinian state along 1967 borders. Israel says such statements by Hamas are a ruse.

In 1995, Rabin was assassinated by an ultranationalist Jew seeking to derail any land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians.

In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton brought Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Camp David to clinch a deal, but the effort failed.

The fate of Jerusalem, deemed by Israel as its “eternal and indivisible” capital, was the main obstacle.

The conflict escalated with a second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000-2005. U.S. administrations sought to revive peacemaking – to no avail, with the last bid collapsing in 2014.

WHAT MIGHT PALESTINE LOOK LIKE?

Advocates of the two-state solution have envisaged a Palestine in the Gaza Strip and West Bank linked by a corridor through Israel.

Two decades ago, details of how it might work were set out in a blueprint by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. Known as The Geneva Accord, its principles include recognition of Jerusalem’s Jewish neighbourhoods as the Israeli capital, and recognition of its Arab neighbourhoods as the Palestinian capital, and a demilitarised Palestinian state.

Israel would annex big settlements and cede other land in a swap, and resettle Jewish settlers in Palestinian sovereign territory outside there.

IS A TWO-STATE SOLUTION POSSIBLE?

While Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, settlements expanded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, their population rising from 250,000 in 1993 to 700,000 three decades later, according to Israeli organisation Peace Now. Palestinians say this undermines the basis of a viable state.

Jewish settlement in the West Bank has accelerated sharply since the start of the Gaza war.

During the Second Intifada two decades ago, Israel also constructed a barrier that it said was intended to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from entering its cities. Palestinians call it a land grab.

The PA led by President Mahmoud Abbas administers islands of West Bank land enveloped by a zone of Israeli control comprising 60% of the territory, including the Jordanian border and the settlements – arrangements set out in the Oslo Accords.

Netanyahu’s government is the most right-wing in Israeli history and includes religious nationalists who draw support from settlers. The far-right finance minister,Bezalel Smotrich,has said there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.

Netanyahu said on July 7 he wanted peace with the Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, saying control of security must remain with Israel.

Hamas won elections in 2006 and a year later drove forces loyal to Abbas out of Gaza, fragmenting the territories where the Palestinians hope to establish their state.

Hamas and Israel have fought repeated wars since then, culminating in the attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that ignited the current Gaza war

The cascade of announcements from key Western allies has drawn sharp rebukes from Israel. Its foreign ministry denounced the Canadian move as “a reward for Hamas,” echoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s condemnation of the UK and French decisions. Netanyahu claimed these recognitions would “punish the victims” of terrorism and “legitimize Hamas.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, said he did not believe Hamas should be “rewarded” with Palestinian statehood, even as he acknowledged the growing hunger crisis. “Many people are starving,” he said, promising to set up food centers in Gaza. Trump has otherwise remained non-committal on Palestinian statehood since returning to office in January.

Escalating Humanitarian Crisis
The diplomatic pivot comes amid dire warnings from humanitarian agencies and a soaring death toll in Gaza. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned this week that famine thresholds have already been breached for food consumption in most of Gaza. “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the IPC said, adding that it would conduct a rapid assessment to formally declare famine.

More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military offensive following Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Palestinian health authorities say at least 154 people, including 89 children, have died from starvation and malnutrition, most of them in recent weeks.

Images of emaciated children have shocked the world. In one tragic case, a two-year-old girl suffering from a brain condition died of hunger because the prescribed milk was unavailable. “She starved. We stood helpless,” her father said from Deir al-Balah.

Though Israel announced limited daily pauses in military operations to allow aid in, the UN says the amount of aid entering Gaza remains “far from enough.” Aid agencies report continued Israeli restrictions on access and movement.

The Hamas-run Gaza media office said Israeli forces killed at least 50 people in three hours on Wednesday as they attempted to access food from U.N. aid trucks in northern Gaza. Israeli gunfire also killed 13 people waiting for aid along Salahudeen Road, according to doctors at Al-Awda Hospital.

A tipping point for Western policy
The coordinated recognition of Palestine by Canada, the UK, and France—three of Israel’s traditional allies—represents a dramatic shift in Western policy, which has long linked recognition to the outcome of peace negotiations.

Starmer, who spoke with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before making his announcement, called the situation in Gaza “appalling.” His government said Britain’s recognition will proceed unless Israel “makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, commits to a ceasefire, and to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution.”

Abbas praised the UK’s position as “bold,” while a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza described the collective recognitions as a “real shift in how Western countries view the Palestinian cause.”

Still, not all voices welcomed the move. Israeli hostages’ families warned that premature recognition would “legitimize war crimes” and harm efforts to return the remaining captives. Zeev Elkin, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, suggested Israel could retaliate by annexing parts of Gaza, further diminishing hopes for Palestinian statehood.

Growing isolation for Israel
The State of Palestine has held non-member observer status at the UN since 2012, and is now recognized by 147 of the 193 UN member states. However, it lacks full UN membership due to U.S. opposition.

Analysts say that the growing momentum for recognition is largely symbolic, but sends a powerful political message. Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. intelligence official, said the recognitions are aimed at “compelling Israel to return to a two-state paradigm,” though they risk damaging bilateral relations with Israel.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterated calls to rebuild Jewish settlements in Gaza, calling it “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel.”

With negotiations for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release stalled and famine looming, the international spotlight on Gaza is intensifying. As more nations signal support for Palestinian statehood, Israel faces growing isolation unless it shifts its approach to both the conflict and humanitarian access.