Ireland, Norway and Spain recognise Palestinian state

Ireland, Spain and Norway have announced they will recognise a Palestinian state, as Israel accused the nations of rewarding Hamas for its brutal attack on 7 October.

- TOM WATLING

All three countries see the move as necessary to secure a twostate solution and ensure peace for both the Israeli and Palestinian people, and it comes amid mounting international criticism over Israel’s plans to conduct a full-scale offensive in the besieged southern Gaza city of Rafah, where around 1 million Palestinians are sheltering. The move will officially come into force on Tuesday.

Around 1,200 people are believed to have been killed during the Hamas attack inside Israel, while 250 people were taken hostage, around 120 of which remain in Gaza. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 80,000 wounded during the Israeli assault on Gaza triggered by that attack, according to health officials in the Hamas-run strip.

Announcing plans to recognise the state of Palestine, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez received applause in parliament as he called for peace in Gaza. “We are going to recognise Palestine for many reasons and we can sum that up in three words – peace, justice and consistency,” he said. “We have to make sure that the two-state solution is respected and there must be mutual guarantees of security. It is essential that the two sides negotiate for peace and it is for this reason that we recognise Palestine.”

In 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the main representative of the Palestinians, first declared the establishment of the state of Palestine. In practice, the Palestinians have limited self-government through the Palestinian Authority (PA) in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The PA lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in 2007. The UN considers both territories as occupied by Israel and comprising a single political entity. Palestinians also want East Jerusalem as part of a future state.