Key Points
- Ireland, Spain and Norway have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the move will have “severe consequences”.
- The decision was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority in the Occupied West Bank and by Hamas.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz says a decision by Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognise a Palestinian state will have “severe consequences”.
Ireland, Spain and Norway have said they will recognise a Palestinian state on 28 May, prompting an angry response from Israel, which said it amounted to a “reward for terrorism” and recalled its ambassadors from the three countries’ capitals.
Officials in Dublin, Madrid and Oslo described the decision as a move aimed at accelerating efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
They urged other countries to follow suit, although the United States, Israel’s main ally, stood by its position that a Palestinian state should be realised through direct negotiations and not “unilateral recognition”.
“We hope that our recognition and our reasons contribute to other western countries following this path, because the more we are, the more strength we will have to impose a ceasefire, to achieve the release of the hostages held by Hamas, to relaunch the political process that can lead to a peace agreement,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told parliament.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the only possible political solution between Israelis and Palestinians was “two states living side by side in peace and security”.
Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said he did not expect the recognition to stop the war in Gaza but it was “a key component” for an Arab-led peace initiative.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris told a Dublin press conference that Ireland remained unequivocal in recognising Israel’s right to exist “securely and in peace with its neighbours” and called for all hostages in Gaza to be freed.
The decision infuriated Israel, which says recognising a Palestinian state amounts to rewarding Hamas militants for the 7 October attack that triggered Israel’s offensive against the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.
“The intention of several European countries to recognise a Palestinian state is a reward for terrorism,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The decision by the three European countries was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and by Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since driving the Palestinian Authority out of the enclave in 2007.
About 144 of the 193 member-states of the United Nations recognise Palestine as a state, including most of the global south, Russia, China and India.
The United Kingdom, Australia and EU members Malta and Slovenia have indicated in recent months that they could soon follow suit.
“Countries make their own decisions about the appropriate time,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
“One of the things I have said is we do want to see more reform of the Palestinian Authority. We want to see movement towards peace on both sides.
“The first thing we need to do is the release of the hostages and immediate humanitarian ceasefire and of course more access for humanitarian aid.”
