Trump gives trade threat to Canada after Palestine move – DW – 07/31/2025
The trip comes in the midst of stalled truce talks between Israel and Palestine's Hamas militant group.
Witkoff said last week that the US had withdrawn its negotiating delegation from Qatar over what he called a lack of willingness by Hamas to reach a ceasefire.
Israel has also pulled its team from the talks.
The US, Qatar and Egypt are mediating between Israel and Hamas, who do not talk directly.
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US President Donald Trump has threatened Canada with repercussions for negotiations on a trade deal after it announced its plans to recognize Palestinian statehood.
"Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them," Trump said on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Trump's statement is set to intensify a trade war between US and Canada, just a day ahead of the August 1 deadline to lock a tariff agreement.
If the two countries fail to strike an agreement by the deadline, Canada faces a 35% tariff on its goods which are not covered under the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact,
On Wednesday, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for September.
The UK and France have also said over the last week that they would support statehood for Palestine.
Canada has joined Britain and France to say that it "intends" to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
However, Canada's decision has resulted in threats from US President Donald Trump as a deadline for a trade agreement between the two countries nears.
Trump has said that Canada's support for Palestinian statehood would make it difficult for the US to zero-in on an agreement with Canada.
Canada will be hit with a 35% tariff on its exports to the US if a deal cannot be reached, the president said.
Also, US special envoy Steve Witkoff will reportedly travel to Israel on Thursday in light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Stay up-to-date with this blog as we bring you the latest reports, analyses, and explainers on the situation in Gaza.
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Middle East updates: Germany says Gaza aid 'insufficient' – DW – 08/02/2025
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German government takes tougher tone with Israel – DW – 08/02/2025
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Wadephul also said that the thesis often insisted upon by the Israeli government — that Hamas will benefit from any aid shipments they allow in — is no longer justified. It could well be that Hamas previously diverted some of the shipments, he said. "But the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is now so great that it is not justified to put up further hurdles here," Wadephul insisted. Another contentious point: While the German foreign minister and others argue that the UN and the World Food Program should be taking care of supplies into Gaza, Israel and its main ally, the US, insist the newly created and increasingly controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF should be. On Friday, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, demonstratively visited a GHF aid distribution site near Rafah, in Gaza. The US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, claims the GHF has given out 100 million meals in two months. However the UN and other aid organizations say the GHF is not working properly. During past weeks, there have been reports of hundreds of people killed or wounded while trying to get aid from the GHF. On Friday, the German air force began to help, dropping palettes of aid into the Gaza Strip, flying out of Jordan. However even Germany's foreign minister considers this more a symbolic than anything particularly helpful. The crucial thing now is to send hundreds of trucks carrying food into the Gaza Strip daily, Wadephul said while in view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
