Spain, Norway and Ireland said on Wednesday they would recognize an independent Palestinian state, dealing a diplomatic blow to Israel and signaling its increasing isolation on the world stage more than seven months after launching a devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In a closely coordinated statement, the three leaders said Palestinian independence cannot wait for a negotiated peace deal with Israel’s right-wing government, which has largely opposed a two-state solution, has been expanding settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, continues to bomb Gaza and has neither toppled Hamas nor brought back all of its hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also disappointed world leaders and two members of his wartime cabinet by refusing to draw up a plan to govern the Gaza Strip after the war. According to health authorities, more than 35,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris linked the Irish government’s decision to Ireland’s quest for independence from the United Kingdom. “We know from our own history what this means: recognition is an act with powerful political and symbolic significance,” he told a news conference.
The announcement by all three countries came just days after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court made the same announcement. Application for arrest warrant Arrest Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on war charges. He also called for the arrest of three top Hamas leaders.
West Bank Palestinian leader welcomes recognition of its importance by three countries symbolic gestureSerious negotiations on a two-state solution have not taken place in more than a decade, and some observers believe that the West’s failure to recognize a Palestinian state has fueled the agenda of the Israeli far right, which opposes the existence of a Palestinian state.
“We believe this will help safeguard the two-state solution and give Palestinians confidence that they will have their own state,” Ziad Abu Amr, a senior Palestinian official in the West Bank, said in an interview. Living side by side with Israel in peace and security.”
More than 140 countries have recognized the establishment of the Palestinian state, but most Western European countries and the United States have not yet recognized it, believing that the establishment of a Palestinian state can only be achieved through negotiations with Israel.
Mr Netanyahu has said the establishment of a Palestinian state would constitute “existential danger” condemned the Israeli moves on Wednesday, calling them “a reward for terrorism.” He said they “will not prevent us from defeating Hamas.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had summoned the ambassadors of Spain, Norway and Ireland to “severely condemn” their governments’ decision “to award gold medals to Hamas terrorists.”
In a statement On social mediaKatz said he would show the ambassadors “the video of the brutal kidnapping of our daughter by Hamas terrorists to highlight the twisted decisions made by their government.”
He was referring to footage released on Wednesday by some of the hostages’ families showing the October 7 kidnapping of female Israeli soldiers.
In the video, which has not been independently verified by The New York Times, Palestinian militants, some wearing Hamas headbands, can be seen tying the hands of five female Israeli hostages near the Gaza border. Serving as a lookout at the Nahal Oz military base. At least two people had blood on their faces. Militants repeatedly threatened soldiers.
Family members said they hoped the images would put pressure on the Israeli government to restart stalled ceasefire talks and pave the way for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
“I ask you to play this video every day, to turn on your radios – until someone wakes up, the whole country wakes up, and realizes that they have been abandoned there for 229 days,” Eli Albag The daughter of Israeli channel 12 said Liri could be seen in the video.
Negotiations to secure the release of more than 125 hostages have been stalled since Israel began its assault on the southern city of Rafah in early May. Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza recently recovered the bodies of four Israelis kidnapped on October 7, fueling concerns about remaining captives.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gaal Stoll said in an interview on Wednesday that Norway hopes to break what he sees as a “vicious cycle with radical groups like Hamas setting the agenda on the Palestinian side” and the Israeli government “building hundreds of thousands of settlers” on occupied land by offering support to Palestinians who support democracy and a sovereign Palestine alongside Israel.
Norway’s support for Palestinian statehood is of special significance because it hosted the secret negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords. Many hope that the 1993 peace framework, the Oslo Accords, will resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration reiterated its view that Palestinian statehood must come through negotiations with the Israelis.
“The president is a staunch supporter of a two-state solution and has been so throughout his career,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. “He believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel would stop transferring major funds to the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank. The move was at least partly a response to Norway, Spain and Ireland. A spokesman for the Israeli finance minister’s office accused Palestinian Authority leaders of campaigning for European recognition of Palestine.
“They target Israel legally, diplomatically and with unilateral recognition,” said spokesman Eitan Fuld. “When they act against the State of Israel, there must be a response.”
The agency’s finances have been in shambles as Israel tightens restrictions on its funding and the Gaza war has led to a slump in the West Bank economy. This month, the authority paid out only 50% The salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called Smotrich’s decision to stop funding the Palestinian Authority “strategically wrong”.
“It undermines the Palestinian people’s quest for security and prosperity, which is in Israel’s interest,” he said. “I think it is wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people.”
New Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the dire financial situation had led to a “very serious situation” in the West Bank, where more than 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, many in clashes with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry.
Mr Mustafa said in a video released by his office: “We are going through an extremely difficult period trying to provide services to the people on the ground who are already under military operations. On top of that, we are unable to pay It’s the cost of doing basic things.”
On Wednesday, the Israeli army expanded its military raids to the West Bank city of Jenin, where Palestinian officials said at least 11 people, including two high school students, a doctor and a teacher, had been killed in recent days. Israeli officials said the soldiers were carrying out a counter-terrorism operation.
Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid said he agreed with Netanyahu that the decisions by Spain, Norway and Ireland were “shameful.” But he also called it an “unprecedented diplomatic failure” by Israel, an implicit rebuke of Netanyahu.
Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu, an expert on Israeli-European relations at Mitvim, an Israeli foreign policy research institute, said the statements reflected the 1,200 deaths in Israel since Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 , how much global support Israel has lost since more than 200 people were kidnapped. Israeli authorities said.
“This proves to us once again how isolated we are as Israelis,” she said.
Spain, Ireland and Norway All of these countries have been strong critics of Israel’s war and have historically been strong supporters of the Palestinians. So their statements may not put much pressure on Israel, Ms. Sion-Tzidkiyahu said. If Germany or France, which have closer ties to Israel, supported Palestinian statehood, it would carry more weight, she said.
“For now, we can accept it because it doesn’t make any real sense,” Ms. Sion Zidekiyahu said. “It has no impact on the local area.”
Reported by Steven Erlanger, Henrik Presser Lieber, Adam Rasgon, Victoria King, Raja Abdul Rahim, Megan Spacey and Michael D. Sher.
