White House: Trump doesn’t think Hamas should be rewarded with Palestinian state recognition

The White House reiterates US President Donald Trump’s assertion that recognizing a Palestinian state would be “rewarding Hamas” after Canada joins the growing list of Western countries declaring their intention to take such a step in September.

“As the president stated, he would be rewarding Hamas if he recognizes a Palestinian state, and he doesn’t think they should be rewarded. So he is not going to do that. President Trump’s focus is on getting people fed,” a White House officials says in a statement sent out to reporters querying regarding the Canadian announcement.

Trump, in comments on Tuesday, avoided overly criticizing the UK and France for their plans to recognize a Palestinian state, asserting that their leaders have a right to their decisions.

The latest statement from the White House appears to maintain that same approach.

While Israel may have hoped that the US would actively seek to prevent countries from recognizing a Palestinian state, Washington does not appear be doing so.

Notably, the White House statement says Trump’s focus is on addressing the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip, and not on releasing the remaining hostages amid the logjam in ceasefire negotiations.

Trump announced on Monday that he was working on a new Gaza aid plan that would see additional food centers established in the Strip to feed Gazans. The White House said on Tuesday that details would be forthcoming, but has yet to follow up.

While Trump said Tuesday that Israel would be responsible for running the new food centers, a senior Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that they are unaware of any such initiative in the works.