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Canada will officially recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, Prime Minister Carney announced Wednesday, marking a dramatic shift in Canadian policy.
Carney cited the “intolerable” and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as a key reason for the decision, which aims to preserve hopes for a two-state solution.
“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” he said.
With Wednesday's announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France and United Kingdom, after French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the U.N. meeting,
France and UK announcements drew condemnation from Israel, which said the move "rewards terror," while United States President Donald Trump dismissed the decision as pointless.
Carney said his decision was informed by Canada's "long-standing" belief in a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"That possibility of a two-state solution is being eroded before our eyes," the prime minister told reporters in Ottawa.
He referenced Israel's "ongoing failure" to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza amid its war against Hamas, as well the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
"For decades, it was hoped that (a two-state solution) would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority," he said.
"Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable."
France, along with 14 other Western nations, issued a joint appeal Wednesday calling for recognition of Palestine and a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a statement by the French Foreign Ministry. Last year, Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia recognized Palestine, bringing the number of UN member states recognizing Palestinian statehood to 148 out of 193 UN member states.
A U.N. conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, recognition of Palestine as a full UN member, and the transfer of control in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority under the principle of “one government, one law, one weapon.”
The conference came as the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 60,100 Palestinians. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and led to food shortages.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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