Canada to attend UN conference on Palestinian statehood
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will travel to New York on Monday for a United Nations conference on achieving a Palestinian state, which comes after French President Emmanuel Macron declared Thursday that his country would recognize Palestine in September, making France the first G7 nation to set out a clear timeline.
A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told the Star the Carney government is not expecting to make a commitment to recognize a state of Palestine during the conference.
Ottawa's position, they said, remains that Canada would recognize a Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority when it would be most conducive to a 'lasting peace.' They did not rule out the possibility of joining France by September's UN general assembly.
Asked about Canada's position on Thursday, Anand suggested the Carney government's priority was on immediately ending the war in Gaza, where civilians face mass starvation due to Israeli blockades, and negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages remain at a standstill.
'I believe that the importance for Canadians is to ensure that humanitarian aid flows, to ensure that the hostages are released and to ensure that Hamas lays down its weapons so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, side by side. That's Canada's position,' Anand told reporters in Inuvik, N.W.T. 'In terms of comparable positions or the positions of my counterparts, that's a conversation that I will have in person when I travel to New York and meet with them next week.'
In a statement on Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney
accused
Israel of violating international law for failing to allow aid into the Gaza Strip, as he called on its government to give control of the distribution of humanitarian aid to the United Nations.
Carney also said Canada will 'work intensively' toward the advancement of a two-state solution 'which guarantees peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.'
Macron's announcement was condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the move 'rewards terror.' U.S. President Donald Trump also dismissed France's declaration, telling reporters Friday that it 'doesn't carry weight.'
In a statement, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar said he told Anand on Friday that France's move 'will only push Israel to take steps of its own,' and that it 'harms the chances of achieving a hostage deal and ceasefire.'
Anand said on social media that she had also spoken with the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister on Friday.
France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting next week's meeting of diplomats, where they are expected to urge Western states to join them in recognizing a Palestinian state. A majority of UN member states already do so, but no other G7 country has so far said it would follow France's lead.
The United States is boycotting the conference, and the Trump administration has warned its allies not to attend.
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