Canada Pledges Aid as Britain and France Raise Pressure Over Settlements
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged 100 million Canadian dollars ($71 million) in assistance for Palestinians on September 23, 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Al Jazeera
The plan has an 80-20 split. Eighty percent will go to direct humanitarian aid, meaning emergency help like food, shelter and medical care. Twenty percent will support peace and security, including Canada's multi-year effort to train Palestinian police in the occupied West Bank.
This adds to a larger Canadian total. Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, Ottawa has pledged more than 600 million Canadian dollars ($426 million) for Palestinian civilians. In June, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced a separate $100 million for urgent help in Gaza and the West Bank.
Aid structure and settlement trade measures
Carney also said Canada plans trade restrictions on goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements linked to the E1 settlement project. Canada is one of 12 states that have announced restrictions on trade in goods with settlements in occupied territory.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK has banned trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He described the E1 expansion plan as a deliberate attempt to block a two-state solution, the internationally backed idea of separate Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side.
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed Palestine and aid deliveries in his UNGA speech on September 23, 2026. France stressed both access for relief and a political settlement, not assistance alone.
The broader context here is a change in tools. Aid continues. Trade measures are widening.
London, Paris and the diplomacy around recognition
The UNGA statements follow positions built over the previous 16 months. On 29 July 2025, the UK government said it would recognise the state of Palestine in September before UNGA to protect the viability of the two-state solution. UK Government
On September 8, 2026, the UK Foreign Secretary said in an oral statement on Israel-Palestine that more settlements were approved in four years of the Israeli government than in the previous twenty years. UK Government London points to that count as background for its ban on settlement trade.
France has worked on bilateral and multilateral tracks, meaning direct deals with other countries and work through international groups. France and Indonesia issued a Joint Declaration on peaceful settlement of the Palestine question and the two-state solution. Elysee The French foreign ministry has repeated condemnation of Israeli settlement policy, saying it threatens the two-state solution and heightens tensions on the ground.
Earlier joint steps included concrete funds and warnings. In June 2026, Britain, Australia and Canada launched a $4 million fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. In May 2025, the leaders of Britain, Canada and France warned of "concrete actions" if Israel did not stop renewed military action. A G7 Leaders' Statement in Borgo Egnazia, Italy, condemned the rise in extremist settler violence against Palestinians as undermining security in the West Bank.
The institutional frame is still the United Nations. In 1947, the United Kingdom turned the Palestine problem over to the United Nations. The High-level International Conference and New York Declaration record agreement to take collective action to end the war in Gaza and seek a just, peaceful and lasting settlement. Prime Minister Carney issued a statement on Canada's recognition of the State of Palestine. A bid for Palestine to become a full UN member was blocked in the Security Council by a United States veto on a draft resolution.
The broader context here is a shift from statements of position to economic instruments tied to enforcement. The 2026 announcements focus on a specific geography, E1, and a specific legal category, goods produced in settlements in occupied territory. The measures described so far target settlement commerce, not overall trade with Israel as a whole.
Looking ahead to the weeks after UNGA, three questions will test coordination. First, whether the 12 states align on product scope, customs enforcement and timelines. Second, whether humanitarian funding, including Canada's 80 percent share and police-training component, can move while access constraints persist. Third, whether the New York Declaration framework produces follow-on steps or stays as a statement of intent while Security Council membership stays blocked.
