Germany will not join partners such as Canada and France in recognising a Palestinian state, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday following a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Berlin.

“We will not join this initiative,” Mr Merz stated during a joint news conference with Mr Carney. “We do not consider the conditions for state recognition to be fulfilled in any way at present.”

Germany views the recognition of a Palestinian state as one of the final steps in a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully side by side.

In contrast, Mr Carney announced in late July that Canada would officially recognise Palestine as a state during the upcoming UN General Assembly session in September.

French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly planning a similar move, while the UK had warned Israel that it might recognise Palestinian statehood if certain conditions were not met.

Mr Carney defended the decision by citing the rapidly deteriorating prospects for a viable two-state solution.

Meanwhile, Mr Merz had imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel in response to its plans to escalate military operations in Gaza City.

However, he reaffirmed that Germany would not shift its position on Palestinian statehood, even after the United Nations confirmed that famine had broken out in parts of Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes continued on Monday, killing at least 19 people, including five journalists, in an attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

(dpa/NAN)