New York, 31 July 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said Canada would recognize the "State of Palestine" at the United Nations General Assembly in September, with conditions.

Carney said in a press conference that the move is predicated on the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, to "fundamentally reform its governance," hold elections by 2026 and "to demilitarize the Palestinian state."

Palestinian militant organization Hamas "must play no role in the future governance of Palestine," Carney said and "must immediately release all hostages" from the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the conflict in Gaza.

"Canada has long been committed to a two-state solution," Carney said. "For decades, it was hoped that this outcome would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable."

Carney said "prospects for a two-state solution have been steadily and gravely eroded, including by the pervasive threat of Hamas terrorism to Israel and its people."

The Canadian prime minister also cited Israel's rapid building of settlements "across the West Bank and East Jerusalem," a plan backed by the Israeli parliament calling for the annexation of the West Bank and "the ongoing failure by the Israeli government to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry in a brief statement said that "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."

Carney's announcement comes a week after Paris announced its decision to formally recognize Palestine as a state, the first among the Group of Seven (G7) leading democracies to do so.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom would recognize the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, unless the Israeli government takes steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza.

Almost 150 UN member states already recognize Palestinian statehood. However, important Western countries are not among them, including the UN veto powers the United States and the UK.

The Palestinian Authority currently controls parts of the West Bank through the Fatah party.

Hamas won the last parliamentary election in 2006 in Gaza. In 2007, it seized control of the territory by force and expelled the more moderate Fatah. Since then, Abbas, who leads both the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, has effectively governed only in the West Bank, with Hamas governing Gaza.

The four-year legislative period expired in 2010. Since then, there has been no democratically legitimized leadership.

A new election has been announced several times, but has not taken place due to ongoing disputes between Fatah and Hamas.

Photo: EPA archive