Three European countries – Norway, Spain and Ireland – announced on Wednesday that they will formally recognise Palestine as a state next week.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the recognition will come into force on May 28.
“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” said the Norwegian prime minister. “There will be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that his country will approve the recognition of the State of Palestine “for peace, justice and coherence”.
“The time has come to move from words to action,” Sánchez said in a social media post.
He also stated that the decision to recognise the state of Palestine would echo the majority sentiment of the Spanish people.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said in a statement that the decision by the government to recognise Palestine as a state is a “historic moment” for the country. “It is a clear and immutable statement of our deeply-held belief that there can be no peace in the Middle East until the Israeli and Palestinian peoples alike enjoy the same rights to self-determination, statehood, peace, security and dignity,” Martin said.
He added that Ireland has “worked intensively” in recent months with European and Arab partners to ensure that their decision to recognise a Palestinian state would be taken as part of a comprehensive, political framework that can finally end this brutal conflict.
“It is important that our decision to recognise Palestine is not misrepresented as a hostile act towards the state of Israel,” Martin said, adding that Ireland supports both Israel and Palestine to exist as independent states with Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states.
Israel’s reaction
After the announcements, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Tel Aviv was recalling its ambassadors from Ireland and Norway for “urgent consultations”, Al Jazeera reported.
“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence,” Katz said in a statement.
He added that it will also ask its ambassador to Spain to return.
Israel has said the decision by the three European countries to recognise the Palestinian state constitutes a “prize for terrorism” and that it would reduce the chance of a negotiated end to the war on Gaza.
Palestinian militant group Hamas termed the decision by the three countries an “important step”.
Israel’s war on Gaza has been ongoing for over seven months. The war began after Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people. The militant group had also taken over 200 people hostage.
A hundred of those hostages are still believed to be alive and in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Some of the hostages were released in November as part of a brief ceasefire agreement and others were killed as a result of the war.
Since October, Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza. The attacks have killed at least 36,200 persons, including over 15,000 children.
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