The leaders of Norway, Ireland and Spain said their countries would formally recognize Palestine as a state next week in the interest of “peace in the Middle East”, prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on Wednesday that a two-state solution was in Israel’s best interests and that recognition of the Palestinian state would come on May 28.
“There can be no peace in the Middle East without recognition,” he said in Oslo.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris made a similar announcement in Dublin, as did Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid, to applause in Parliament.
“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands dead and injured (in Gaza), we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution to both Israelis and Palestinians: two states living side by side. coast, in peace and security. said Gahr Store.
“Recognition of Palestine is a way to support moderate forces who have lost ground in this prolonged and brutal conflict,” he said.
Harris told a news conference: “I am confident that other countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks. »
Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said on X that recognition would take place on May 28.
Sanchez, while announcing that the Spanish council of ministers would also recognize an independent Palestinian state on May 28, accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering the two-state solution with his policy of “pain and destruction” to Gaza.
“We hope that our recognition and our reasons will contribute to other Western countries following this path, because the more of us there are, the more force we will have to impose a ceasefire,” Sánchez said.
Harris also said Ireland unequivocally recognized Israel’s right to exist “in security and peace with its neighbors”, and called for the immediate return of all Gaza captives.
“But let me also be clear: Hamas is not the Palestinian people… a two-state solution is the only way out of generational cycles of violence, retaliation and resentment,” he added.
At least 35,709 people have been killed and 79,990 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel following the October 7 Hamas attack is 1,139, with dozens still in captivity.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Imran Khan, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because the Israeli government banned Tel Aviv Tribune, said Malta and Slovenia should also make similar announcements.
“This is a momentous occasion for the Palestinians,” he said.
“It is perhaps not surprising that Norway took the lead in this area because it was behind the Oslo Accords – the 1993 agreement which actually did two things: it recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLO, as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.” Khan added.
Tel Aviv Tribune diplomatic editor James Bays said the three countries’ decision was significant for two reasons: “momentum and timing.”
“Just look at the week that Prime Minister Netanyahu has had,” he said, referring to the announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor that he was seeking a warrant for ruling against the Israeli leader, among others, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on South Africa’s request for a ruling to stop the Israeli offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Saudi Arabia and Jordan welcomed the decision.
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Nida Ibrahim said this is seen as a big step, on paper, “one that is very well received on the streets.”
“However, major diplomatic measures will not change the reality for Palestinians on the ground” amid intensifying Israeli attacks, Ibrahim said.
“If we take Jenin, for example, in the north of the occupied West Bank, it is suffering the repercussions of a second day of Israeli raid. »
Israeli warning
Israel immediately announced that it was recalling its envoys to Ireland and Norway for “urgent consultations.”
“Today I send a clear message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent on this issue,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, adding that he planned to the same with the Spanish ambassador.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry previously released a video message to Ireland on X warning that “recognizing a Palestinian state risks making you a pawn in the hands of Iran and Hamas”, adding that the move ” would only fuel extremism and instability.”
Israel said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “price for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the war in Gaza, which began on October 7 when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Gaza. ‘Israel.
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), published on X: “Historic moments in which the free world triumphs for truth and justice after long decades of Palestinian national struggle, suffering and pain. , occupation, racism, murder, oppression, abuse and destruction to which the Palestinian people have been subjected.
Hamas called the three countries’ decision an “important step.”
Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti said it was a “powerful and symbolically significant political measure” that brought closer the realization of “freedom and justice” for the Palestinian people.
“It is also a blow to Netanyahu and his extremist government, as well as to the fascists in his government… It means that the Israeli government’s acts of fascism and extremism have no future,” he said. -he declared to Tel Aviv Tribune.
