Category: Global

Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, a major policy shift that drew an angry response from US President Donald Trump and was rejected by Israel.

Carney said the move was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a long-standing Canadian goal that was “being eroded before our eyes.”

“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” the prime minister said.

This makes Canada — a G7 nation — the third country, following recent announcements by France and the United Kingdom, to signal plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

Carney said the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace.”

Israel blasted Canada’s announcement as part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure,” while Trump warned that trade negotiations with Ottawa may not proceed smoothly.

“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”

Asked by reporters if there was a scenario where Canada could change its position before the UN meeting, Carney said: “there’s a scenario (but) possibly one that I can’t imagine.”

Canada’s intention “is predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms,” Carney said, referring to the body led by President Mahmoud Abbas, which has civil authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Carney said his plans were further predicated on Abbas’s pledge to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.”

– ‘Historic’ decision –

With Wednesday’s announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.

The Israeli embassy in Ottawa said “recognizing a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions, or benevolent leadership, rewards and legitimizes the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on October 7, 2023.”

The PA’s Abbas welcomed the announcement as a “historic” decision, while France said the countries would work together “to revive the prospect of peace in the region.”

Canada’s plan goes a step further than this week’s announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer said the UK will formally recognize the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

– Two-state solution –

Carney stressed that Canada has been an unwavering member of the group of nations that hoped 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.”

“Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable,” he said, citing “Hamas terrorism” and the group’s “longstanding violent rejection of Israel’s right to exist.”

The peace process has also been eroded by the expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, Carney said.

The prime minister said a two-state solution was growing increasingly remote, with a vote in Israel’s parliament “calling for the annexation of the West Bank,” as well as Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

He framed his decision as one aimed at safeguarding Israel’s future.

“Any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state, and one that recognizes Israel’s inalienable right to security and peace,” Carney said.

Canada’s support for Palestine makes trade deal ‘very hard’: Trump 

Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that Canada’s support for Palestinian statehood makes reaching a trade deal with Ottawa “very hard”.

“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. Oh’ Canada!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

United States (US) President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Indian imports by as much as 25 percent if a trade deal with the US is not finalised this week.

“Yeah, I think so. India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs, almost more than any other country,” the US President told a reporter aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, adding that a trade deal had yet to be finalised.

His response came after the reporter asked whether New Delhi would face tariffs of 20 to 25 percent if an agreement was not reached.

Trump has not yet sent a letter to India setting a new tariff rate.

On Monday, CNBC quoted US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as claiming that an elusive India trade agreement would require more discussion between the two countries.

“They have expressed strong interest in opening portions of their market. We, of course are willing to continue talking to them,” Greer said. 

“But I think we need some more negotiations on that with our Indian friends to see how ambitious they want to be,” he added.

According to Commerce Department data, the US imported $87 billion worth of goods from India last year. Meanwhile, India imported $42 billion worth of goods from the US. The top goods the US received from India included pharmaceuticals, communications equipment, such as smartphones, and apparel.

The US has set a deadline of 1 August for India and dozens of other countries to either reach a trade agreement or face increased tariffs.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

The magnitude 8.8 quake struck at 8:24 am (2304 GMT Tuesday) off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.

Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, while local media said one of between three and four metres high was recorded in the Elizovsky district of Kamchatka.

A video posted on Russian social media appeared to show buildings in the town submerged in seawater. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.

Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none of them seriously.

“The walls were shaking,” an Elizovsky resident told state media Zvezda.

“It’s good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out… It was very scary,” she said.

Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico and Ecuador — issued warnings to avoid affected beaches.

In Japan, people evacuated by car or on foot to higher ground — including in Hokkaido, where a first wave measuring 30 centimetres was observed.

There were no injuries or damage reported in Japan as of midday (0300 GMT).

In Hawaii, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said residents and the thousands of visitors should get to safety on upper floors of buildings or on higher ground.

“People should not, and I will say it one more time, should not, as we have seen in the past, stay around the shoreline or risk their lives just to see what a tsunami looks like,” governor Josh Green said.

“It is not a regular wave. It will actually kill you if you get hit by a tsunami,” Green said.

– Pacific warnings –

Wednesday’s quake was the strongest since 1952 in the Kamchatka region, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warnings of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.

The epicenter of the earthquake is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 temblor that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS.

At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.

The US Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.

Between one- and three-metre waves were possible along some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Japan and other islands and island groups in the Pacific, it said.

Waves of up to one metre were possible elsewhere, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.

It described the potential conditions as “hazardous.”

At Inage Beach in Chiba prefecture in Japan, a security perimeter was set up, and a rescue worker told AFP that the seaside area was off limits until further notice.

“I didn’t expect there to be a tsunami; I actually made a joke about it when we heard (the alert),” Canadian tourist Leana Lussier, 17, told AFP.

“We came here hoping to swim, but once we heard a tsunami warning had been issued, we didn’t go in at all, not even close to the water,” local Tomoyo Fujita, 35, told AFP as she left the area with her young daughter.

Television footage showed several whales washed up on a beach.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan — destroyed by a huge quake and tsunami in 2011 — were evacuated, its operator said.

– Aftershocks –

Tsunami alerts were pushed to mobile phones in California, according to local AFP reporters.

“STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!” US President Donald Trump said on social media.

Tsunami sirens blared near Hawaii’s popular Waikiki surf beach where an AFP photographer observed gridlocked traffic as Hawaiians escaped to higher ground.

The US Tsunami Warning Centers issued a Tsunami Warning — its highest level alert — for the entire US state of Hawaii, with the first waves expected at 7:17 pm local time (0517 GMT).

“People are also advised to stay away from the beach and not to go to the coast,” the seismology centre said in a warning.

Vessels were ordered to head to open water ahead of the expected arrival of waves up to 2 metres, while government employees in Honolulu were sent home early.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said that no phone call was held between Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and United States (US) President Donald Trump during military clashes between Pakistan and India in May this year.

“There was no call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump between April 22 (the Pahalgam attack) and June 17 … and at no stage was there any link to trade,” he said during a special debate on Operation Sindoor in the Indian parliament.

The minister’s statements come after repeated claims by US President Trump that he stopped the conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi with trade deals.

During a press briefing at the White House earlier in July, Trump said that the conflict stopped “over trade”. “We stopped a lot of fights … I think a very big one frankly … India and Pakistan and we stopped that over trade. We are dealing with India; we are dealing with Pakistan,” Trump added.

In mid-July, during a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump reiterated that the two nations were on the brink of nuclear war before his intervention and claimed he used trade as leverage to settle the conflict.

“India and Pakistan would have been (in) a nuclear war within another week, the way that was going (on). I said, we’re not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled. And they did,” Trump said.

However, India has maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

Following the April 22 Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), New Delhi, on the night of May 6-7, breaching sovereignty and territorial integrity, launched strikes in Pakistan, killing innocent civilians.

In response, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets including Rafales. Following the humiliation, India launched drones and missiles at Pakistan. Acting swiftly, the latter country hit their air bases, inflicting heavy damage.

On May 10, the US administration intervened and announced a ceasefire between them. Islamabad extended thanks to US President Trump, acknowledging his role in brokering peace between the two countries.

Last month, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a video statement that the decision to halt military action was made directly between India and Pakistan, through existing channels of the two armies, adding that PM Modi stressed that “India has never accepted mediation, does not and will never do so. There is complete political consensus in India on this issue”.

An Illinois landlord convicted of killing a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy in a brutal hate crime has died in prison, less than three months into his 53-year sentence.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was serving time at the Illinois Department of Corrections when he died on Thursday, according to the reports. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Czuba was convicted in May for the murder of Wadea al-Fayoume and the attempted murder of his mother Hanaan Shaheen, in an attack that police said was motivated by anti-Muslim hate. The incident occurred in October 2023, shortly after the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza. 

The family was renting rooms from Czuba in Plainfield, a suburb about 40 miles from Chicago, when the attack took place. 

Czuba stabbed young Wadea 26 times. The child later died in a hospital from his injuries. His mother survived the attack but suffered serious wounds.

During the trial, Shaheen testified that Czuba told her, “You, as a Muslim, must die,” before attacking her with a knife and then turning on her son. Graphic footage from the crime scene was deemed too disturbing for public viewing during the trial.

Czuba was found guilty of six counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and two hate crime charges. The jury took less than 90 minutes to deliver a unanimous verdict in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and fears over rising anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian sentiment.

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago chapter, responded to Czuba’s death by saying, “This depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.”

In June, a memorial honoring Wadea al-Fayoume was unveiled at a playground in Plainfield, which is home to a significant Palestinian community.

Israel declared a “tactical pause” in fighting in parts of Gaza on Sunday and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

The military also said it had begun air-dropping food into the territory and angrily rejected allegations it was using starvation as a weapon against Palestinian civilians.

In a statement, the army said it had coordinated with the UN and international agencies to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip”.

The Oxfam aid agency’s regional policy chief, Bushra Khalidi, described the Israeli decision as a “welcome first step” but warned it could yet prove insufficient to resolve the crisis.

“Starvation won’t be solved by a few trucks or airdrops. What’s needed is a real humanitarian response: ceasefire, full access, all crossings open, and a steady, large-scale flow of aid into Gaza,” she told AFP.

– ‘Life’s wish’ –

“We need a permanent ceasefire, a complete lifting of the siege, and clear guarantees that this isn’t just a temporary gesture. Right now, it’s unclear how this will actually materialise on the ground.”

In the Tel al-Hawa district of Gaza City, 30-year-old Suad Ishtaywi said she hoped aid trucks would now be able to reach her family’s tent encampment.

“My life’s wish has become to eat a loaf of bread and to be able to provide bread for my children to eat,” she told AFP, complaining her husband comes back daily from fruitless trips to aid distribution points.

Also in Gaza City, 44-year-old Mohammed al-Daduh said: “We hope the aid comes in today, because hunger is killing us day by day. Egypt said it would send aid, but we don’t know if Israel will allow it in.”

Egyptian aid trucks had begun crossing into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, AFP journalists saw.

The pause in fighting will be limited to areas where the military says Israeli troops are not currently operating — Al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City — and last from 10:00 am (0700 GMT) until 8:00 pm every day.

But the Israeli statement added that “designated secure routes” had also been opened across all of Gaza to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine.

The Israeli military said these operations, alongside its ongoing campaign against Palestinian armed groups, should disprove “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants after finding “reasonable grounds” to suspect the criminal responsibility of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant in actions that included the crime of using starvation as a method of war.

The Israeli leaders furiously denied their large-scale assault on Gaza in the wake of the Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel broke international law.

But the humanitarian situation inside Gaza has since deteriorated further and on March 2 Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza after ceasefire talks broke down. More than 100 NGOs warned this week of “mass starvation”.

In late May, Israel began allowing a trickle of aid to resume, but UN and humanitarian agencies accuse the army of imposing excessive restrictions, while tightly controlling road access within Gaza.

Before Israel announced the airborne delivery of seven pallets of food, the United Arab Emirates had said it would restart aid drops and Britain said it would work with partners including Jordan to assist them.

– ‘Immediate’ airdrops –

On Saturday alone, the Palestinian civil defence agency said over 50 more Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes and shootings, some as they waited near aid distribution centres.

In a social media post, the Israeli military announced it “carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip”.

Humanitarian chiefs are deeply sceptical that airdrops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the hunger crisis facing Gaza’s more than two million inhabitants.

A number of Western and Arab governments carried out airdrops in Gaza in 2024, when aid deliveries by land also faced Israeli restrictions, but many in the humanitarian community consider them ineffective.

“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”

Israel’s military insists it does not limit the number of trucks going into Gaza, and alleges UN agencies and relief groups are not collecting aid once it is inside the territory.

– Mounting death toll –

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.