(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his trade war with Canada a day ahead of his August 1 deadline for a tariff agreement, saying it would be "very hard" to make a deal with Canada after it gave its support to Palestinian statehood.

Trump is set to impose a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement if the two countries do not reach an agreement by the deadline.

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year.

The two resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats. They failed by 73 to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber in voting late on Wednesday night.

Similar measures, also introduced by Sanders, failed by 82-15 and 83-15 in April.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that he had discussed the crisis in Gaza with his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, and reiterated his government's strong support for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

Starmer this week said Britain was prepared to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in response to growing public anger over the images of starving children in Gaza.

Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, a major policy shift that drew an angry response from US President Donald Trump and was rejected by Israel.

Carney said the move was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a long-standing Canadian goal that was "being eroded before our eyes."

"Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025," the prime minister said.

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday.

Carney told reporters that the planned move was predicated on the Palestinian Authority's commitment to reforms, including commitments to fundamentally reform its governance and to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people when they opened fire Wednesday on a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid in the north of the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of casualties in the incident north of Gaza City, as the United Nations said that pauses in Israel's offensive against Hamas were not enough to help the population through a deepening hunger crisis.

Within sight of Gaza, the devastated Palestinian enclave ravaged by nearly 22 months of war, hundreds of Israeli settlers marched Wednesday to stake their claim to the battered territory.

Waving Israeli flags alongside the orange banners of Gush Katif -- a bloc of settlements dismantled in 2005 -- the marchers went from the town of Sderot to the Asaf Siboni observation point, overlooking the ruins of Beit Hanun.

Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 20 years ago ended 38 years of military presence. About 8,000 settlers were evacuated and 21 communities demolished.

By Gram Slattery and Ryan Patrick Jones

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Wednesday on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels, in a sign the Trump administration is doubling down on its "maximum pressure" campaign after bombing Tehran's key nuclear sites in June.

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said agreed on Wednesday to deepen collaboration across energy, technology, defence and security, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

During talks in London where the leaders also discussed the ongoing UK-Gulf Cooperation Council trade negotiations, the leaders called for urgent humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, saying the current situation "cannot continue."

The United States on Wednesday slapped sanctions on a shipping empire controlled by the son of a top political advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions were being imposed on companies and vessels operated by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who has been subject to US sanctions since 2020.

It said Hossein operates a fleet of more than 50 tankers and container ships that transport Iranian and Russian oil and petroleum products, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit.