Overview

• Britain, Canada and Australia moved to recognize a Palestinian state during UN General Assembly week, joining a growing cohort of Western allies.
• Calling the recognitions an “absurd prize for terrorism,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would fight them at the UN and elsewhere and that specific steps will follow his meeting with President Trump next week.
• Israel’s foreign ministry said the recognitions reward Hamas, asserting on X that Hamas leaders view them as a direct outcome of the October 7 attack.
• Far‑right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben‑Gvir pressed for annexation of the West Bank and dismantling the Palestinian Authority, as Netanyahu signaled continued settlement expansion and said Israel has doubled West Bank settlements.
• Tens of thousands protested in Israel for a hostage deal, and a coalition of hostages’ families condemned what it called unconditional recognitions while 48 captives remain in Gaza.