BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain and Norway moved forward on Tuesday to formally recognize a Palestinian state as part of a coordinated effort by three Western European countries, with Ireland set to follow suit. Israel slammed the diplomatic move, which has no immediate impact on the country’s raging war in Gaza but will increase international pressure on Tel Aviv to soften its devastating response to last year’s Hamas-led offensive.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the Spanish Cabinet would recognize a Palestinian state at a meeting on Tuesday morning.
“This is a historic decision with the sole aim of helping to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine,” Sanchez said in a televised address outside the gates of his palace in Madrid.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed Spain over X, saying the Sánchez government was “complicit in inciting genocide and war crimes against the Jewish people.”
“For more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian state. Today marks a milestone in Norwegian-Palestinian relations as Norway formally recognizes Palestine as a state,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barto Eide said in a statement.
Dozens of countries have recognised the Palestinian state, but none of the major Western powers have. Still, the fact that the three European countries have joined the group represents a victory for the Palestinian cause in the world of public opinion.
The EU-Israel relationship Diplomatic recognition by two EU member statesMadrid insisted on Monday that the EU should take action against continuing deadly Israeli attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said: “For the first time at an EU meeting we have seen a real, significant discussion on sanctions against Israel.”
Norway, which is not an EU member state but often aligns its foreign policy with that of the EU, handed over a diplomatic note to the Palestinian government over the weekend ahead of its formal recognition.
At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for the prosecutor to focus on the International Criminal Court. Request an arrest warrant To the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Others include leaders of the militant group Hamas.
The formal declaration and the resulting diplomatic spat came seven months into Israel’s fierce war against Hamas in Gaza, after an Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack allowed militants to cross the Gaza border into Israel, leaving 1,200 people dead and taking about 250 hostages. Israeli air and ground attacks According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 36,000 are Palestinians.It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
A joint announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway last week angered Israeli authorities, who summoned their ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the foreign ministry and filmed them showing videos of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and abductions.
About 140 countries – more than two-thirds of U.N. member states – recognise the state of Palestine, and the addition of the three Western European nations to that group will likely put pressure on EU powers France and Germany to reconsider their position.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said Monday that his government will decide on Thursday whether to recognize a Palestinian state and will then submit the decision to parliament for final approval.
The United States, Britain and other countries support the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but say it should be part of a negotiated settlement. Netanyahu’s government maintains the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations.
In his speech on Tuesday, President Sanchez said recognition of a Palestinian statehood “is not a decision we would ever take toward anyone, especially not toward Israel, a friendly people whom we respect and value and with whom we want to have the best possible relationship.”
The Socialist leader, who announced his country’s decision in parliament last week, has spent months visiting European and Middle Eastern countries, including stops in Oslo and Dublin, to rally support for recognition of a Palestinian state and a ceasefire in Gaza.
He called for a permanent ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack that triggered an Israeli counterattack.
Sanchez said the move was to support the embattled Palestinian Authority, which has lost effective political control over the Gaza Strip to Hamas. He outlined a vision of a Palestinian-run state linked to the West Bank and Gaza by a corridor with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Bas Eide added that it was “disappointing that the Israeli government has not shown any signs of constructive engagement.”
“The recognition is a strong statement of support for moderate forces in both countries,” a Norwegian diplomat said.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, cooperates with Israel on security issues and supports a negotiated two-state solution. Palestinian forces were driven out of Gaza when the militant group Hamas seized power in 2007.
Palestinians have long sought an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The idea of a land corridor between Gaza and the West Bank through Israel has been discussed in past peace talks, but no serious, substantive peace talks have taken place in more than 15 years.
“We will not recognize any changes to the 1967 border unless agreed upon by the parties,” Sanchez added.
“Furthermore, this decision reflects our total rejection of the terrorist organization Hamas, which opposes the two-state solution,” Sánchez said. “From the very beginning, Spain has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of October 7. This unequivocal condemnation is a clear expression of our firm determination in the fight against terrorism. I want to emphasize that, starting tomorrow, we will do everything in our power to implement the two-state solution and make it a reality.”
Israel is also under pressure from the International Criminal Court after its chief prosecutor was indicted by that court. He said he would seek an arrest warrant. The International Court of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense. A genocide that Israel strongly denies.
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Associated Press writers Melanie Rydman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Raf Caselt in Brussels contributed to this report.
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See AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage here https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
