The US president could reportedly make the announcement during his upcoming trip to the Middle East

US President Donald Trump could formally recognize Palestine at the upcoming Gulf-US summit in Saudi Arabia, the news outlet Media Line has reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

The State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign nation by 147 countries, including Russia and most nations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. However, most Western European countries, Israel, and the US do not officially consider it a sovereign state. Many nations have called for its recognition as the only way to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, which escalated in 2023 when Israel launched a military operation in Gaza following a surprise Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and saw 250 taken hostage.

"President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it, and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas," a Gulf diplomatic source, who declined to be named or disclose his position, told the outlet. The source also added that the announcement "will be the most important declaration that will change the balance of power in the Middle East."

The report comes amid speculation over remarks Trump made earlier this month during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney when he repeatedly teased "a very, very big announcement about a certain subject" that he planned to make either before or during his upcoming trip to the Middle East. While he did not specify what the announcement would entail, he said it would be "very positive." Some observers suggest it could refer to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has denied that the US has plans to recognize Palestine, chiding the Jerusalem Post, which picked up the Media Line report, for trusting unchecked sources. "Jerusalem Post needs better sources than this unidentified 'source'... This report is nonsense.@Israeldoesn't have a better friend than@POTUS!" he wrote on X on Saturday.

Trump has not previously expressed any intention to recognize Palestine. During his first term in office, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, despite the Palestinians' claim to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state under the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords.

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During his current term, however, Trump has been involved in mediating efforts to reach a lasting resolution to the conflict. While the sides reached a ceasefire in January, Israel resumed its operation against Hamas earlier this spring. Earlier this week, he suggested there could soon be an announcement on a new Gaza ceasefire proposal, saying there was "a lot of talk going on about Gaza right now."

(RT.com)