Ireland, Spain and Norway are recognizing a Palestinian state, all three announced on Wednesday.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the historic move was coordinated with the other two, marking “a historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine”. He said he intends to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution.
Official recognition by the three nations of an independent Palestinian state will take effect on May 28, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told a news conference on Wednesday, the agency reports of Reuters news.
The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, socialist leader of his country since 2018, made the expected announcement on Wednesday about the recognition in the Parliament of his country.
Violeta Santos Moura / REUTERS
Sánchez has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to gain support for the recognition of Palestine, as well as a possible ceasefire in Gaza. He has said several times that he was committed to the movement.
Earlier this month, Spanish Foreign Minister José Albares said he had informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of his government's intention to recognize Palestine.
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered his country's ambassadors to Ireland and Norway to immediately return to Israel and threatened to return Israel's ambassador to Spain if that country takes a similar stance , which he has had ever since.
“Ireland and Norway intend to send a message today to the Palestinians and to the entire world: terrorism pays,” Katz said.
He said the recognition could hamper efforts to return Israeli hostages held in Gaza and makes a ceasefire “rewarding the jihadists of Hamas and Iran” less likely.
Earlier Wednesday, announcing Norway's recognition of a Palestinian state, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said “there is no peace in the Middle East without recognition.”
“By recognizing a Palestinian state, Norway supports the Arab peace plan,” he said.
Several European Union countries have indicated in recent weeks that they plan to recognize it, arguing that a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union but mirrors its movements, has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups that are not in favor of a two-state solution and the state of Israel,” the Norwegian government leader said.
“Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state,” Gahr Støre told a news conference.
The move comes as Israeli forces have led attacks on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip in May, prompting a fresh exodus of hundreds of thousands of people and sharply restricting the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore consider Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations this entails,” Gahr Støre said.
Norway's recognition of a Palestinian state comes more than 30 years after the signing of the first Oslo Accords in 1993.
Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
He said the World Bank determined that Palestine had met key criteria for functioning as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been created to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the steady expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said.
