Three European countries – Spain, Ireland and Norway – officially recognized Palestine as a state on Tuesday. Israel has already expressed strong anger in this incident.
Seven months after the Gaza war, Israel feels increasingly isolated in the world, with more European countries supporting Palestine than ever before.
Already, 144 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognized Palestine as a state.
Madrid, Dublin and Oslo said their decision would help speed up efforts to establish a ceasefire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Until the United States and its close allies recognize Palestine, the three countries’ recognition of Palestine will remain largely symbolic. They hope, however, that it will inspire other EU countries to take similar steps.
Spain and Ireland are the largest and most politically influential countries in Europe to recognize Palestine as a state. 27-nation EU members Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria have already recognized Palestine.
In recent months, the UK, Australia and EU members Malta and Slovenia have also indicated they will recognize Palestine.
France says the time has not yet come to recognize Palestine. And Germany has aligned itself with the position of the United States, a staunch supporter of Israel. The two countries rejected such a ‘unilateral’ move and said that the Israel-Palestine two-state solution to the Middle East crisis must be through dialogue.
On May 22, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, ‘We hope that our recognition and rational behavior will lead Western countries to take the same decision (recognition of Palestine). Because, the heavier our party is, the more influence we will be able to have in establishing a ceasefire.’
Fighters of the Palestinian independence organization Hamas killed more than 1,200 people by attacking Israel on October 7. At that time, Hamas took about 240 people hostage from Israel. Israel started attacking Gaza from that day. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in their attacks. Most of the dead were women and children.
In this context, Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized Palestine as a state by maintaining the pre-1967 borders. And three countries recognize Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and Palestine. This move will also change the diplomatic protocol regarding Palestine. The representative offices of the three countries on the West Bank will be upgraded to full embassies.
Israel reacted angrily to the announcement of the three countries’ decision to recognize Palestine as a state. The country has withdrawn its ambassadors from Madrid, Oslo and Dublin. Besides, the country is summoning the ambassadors of the three countries.
Tel Aviv has also taken steps to prevent Spain from providing consular services to Palestinians in the West Bank. In response, Spain also stepped up its criticism of Israel. The country says there is a real genocide going on in Gaza.
Spain said on Monday it would call on EU member states to formally back the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to stop Israel’s operation in the Gaza city of Rafah.
Recognition of Palestinian state is essential for peace: Sanchez
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that recognizing Palestine as a state is an ‘inevitable’ step towards peace in the Middle East. “Recognition of Palestine is essential if we want to achieve peace,” he said today.