TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Norway, Ireland and Spain announced Wednesday they would recognize a Palestinian state. A historic but largely symbolic move It has been more than seven months since Israel became even more isolated. Fierce war with Hamas in GazaIsrael condemned the decision and recalled its ambassadors from the three countries.
Palestinian authorities welcomed the announcement as an affirmation of Israel’s decades-long push to establish a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and still controls.
Some 140 countries, more than two-thirds of the United Nations, recognize a Palestinian state, but Wednesday’s announcements could add momentum as even close allies of Israel face growing criticism of its actions in Gaza. There is sex.
The timing of the move was surprising, as some European Union countries have been discussing the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state for weeks. Supporters say the war demonstrates the need for a new push toward a two-state solution, 15 years after negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
It was the second blow to Israel’s international reputation this week from the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor. He said he would seek an arrest warrant. For Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense. The International Court of Justice is also considering the following allegations: Genocide that Israel adamantly denies.
In addition to recalling the ambassadors of the three countries, Israel also recalled its special envoy and accused European countries of paying off the militant Hamas attack on October 7 that triggered the war. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said European ambassadors would monitor the situation. Harrowing video footage of the attack.
AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports on the European countries that recognize the Palestinian state.
In the attack, Hamas-led militants breached the border, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. The ICC prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, subsequent Israeli attacks have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, sparking a humanitarian crisis and near starvation. ICC prosecutors have accused Israeli leaders of using hunger as a weapon.
“It will go down in history that Spain, Norway and Ireland decided to award gold medals to Hamas murderers and rapists,” Katz said.
Following the European announcement, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir made a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Wednesday. flashpoint in jerusalem It is a sacred place to Muslims and Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.
Three Irish government leaders, from left, Minister Eamon Ryan, Minister Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, speak to the media in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Damien Storan/PA via AP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez speaks at the Spanish Congress in Madrid on May 22, 2024. (via AP, Eduardo Parra/European Press)
“We don’t even approve of statements about a Palestinian state,” he said.
In further retaliation, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would suspend tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, a move that threatens to cripple its already declining ability to pay salaries to thousands of employees. be.
Under interim peace deals from the 1990s, Israel has collected taxes on the Palestinians and used the money as a lever to pressure the Palestinian Authority. After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Mr. Smotrich froze the transfer, but Israel agreed to send it to Norway, which then transferred it to the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Smotrich said Wednesday he was ending the arrangement.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the termination was “wrong” and would “destabilize the West Bank” and undermine “Palestinians’ pursuit of security and prosperity.” Stated.
The international community views the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict.
The United States and Britain, in particular, support the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but insist it should be realized as part of a negotiated solution. Netanyahu’s government says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations.
Norway, Spain and Ireland all have a track record of building friendly relations with both Israel and Palestine, and have long advocated for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Formal approval by these three countries is scheduled for May 28th.
Their presentations were made in quick succession. Norway was the first to help broker the Oslo Accords, which began the peace process in the 1990s. Prime Minister Jonas Gare Store said, “Without recognition, there can be no peace in the Middle East.”
The country plans to upgrade its representative office in the West Bank to an embassy.
European countries recognize Palestinian state
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the day “an historic and important day for Ireland and Palestine” and said the announcement was being co-ordinated and other countries could join.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who announced his country’s decision in Congress, has spent months touring Europe and the Middle East to rally support for recognition of the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire.
“This recognition is not against anyone, not even the Israeli people,” Sanchez said. “This is an act that supports peace, justice and moral integrity.”
President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian AuthorityThe Israeli government, which controls parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, welcomed the decision and called on other countries to “recognize our legitimate rights and support our people’s struggle for liberation and independence.”
Hamas, which Western countries and Israel consider a terrorist group, does not recognize Israel’s existence, but States may agree on 1967 lines, at least in the interim. Israel claims that any Palestinian state risks being taken over by Hamas and poses a threat to its security.
This announcement is unlikely to have any impact on the Gaza war or the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and considers it part of its capital, and has built numerous Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israelis currently live. Although the settlers have Israeli citizenship, the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under a seemingly unlimited Israeli military regime.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that even after Hamas is defeated, Israel will maintain security control of Gaza, where the war is still ongoing. An Israeli airstrike early Wednesday killed 10 people, including four women and four children, who had been displaced and had sought refuge in central Gaza, hospital authorities said.
“Recognition is a concrete step towards a viable political trajectory leading to Palestinian self-determination,” said Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
To be effective, “the annexation of Israel and Settlement of Palestinian territory – Prohibition of payment products and financial services, etc. ”
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Wald Eide defended the importance of the move in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that while his country has supported the establishment of a Palestinian state for decades, recognition would be a “one-time thing.” He said he was aware that it was a card. ”
“We used to think that recognition was something we got at the end of the process,” he says. “Now we realise that recognition should come as a driver, as an enhancement to the process.”
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Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain, and Kraus reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Jill Lawless in London and David Keaton in Berlin contributed to this report.
