Achi news desk-
TEL AVIV, Israel –
Norway, Ireland and Spain said on Wednesday they recognize a Palestinian state, a historic but largely symbolic move that further deepens Israel’s isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel immediately denied the decisions and recalled its ambassadors to the three countries.
Palestinians welcomed the announcements as a confirmation of their decades-long quest for statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and which it still controls.
While around 140 countries – more than two-thirds of the UN – recognize Palestinian statehood, Wednesday’s cascade of announcements could build momentum at a time when even Israel’s closest allies have piled on criticism for its conduct in Gaza.
It was the second blow to Israel’s international reputation this week after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said he would seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister. The International Court of Justice is also considering allegations of genocide which Israel has strongly denied.
Israel recalled its ambassadors to the three countries and recalled their envoys, accusing the Europeans of rewarding the militant group Hamas for its attack on October 7 that sparked the war. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said European ambassadors would watch gruesome video footage of the attack.
In that attack, militants led by Hamas stormed across the border, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. The ICC prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. The ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
“History will remember that Spain, Norway, and Ireland decided to award a gold medal to the murderers and rapists of Hamas,” said Katz.
Netanyahu’s government, which opposes Palestinian statehood, says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations, which last collapsed more than 15 years ago.
As if to underline the point, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem sacred to both Jews and Muslims on Wednesday in a move that could heighten tensions across the region .
Ben-Gvir said that the visit was a response to the announcements in Europe. “We will not even allow a statement about a Palestinian state,” he said. The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam, and the hill it stands on is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
The international community has long seen the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict, and in recent weeks several European Union countries have indicated that they intend to recognize a Palestinian state to further those efforts.
The United States and Britain, among others, have supported the idea of ​​an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but say it should come as part of a negotiated settlement.
Here is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. (AP Photo)
The announcements from Europe came in quick succession. Norway, which helped broker the Oslo accords that started the peace process in the 1990s, was the first to announce its decision, with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St├╕ saying “there can be no peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition .”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was a “historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine,” saying the announcements had been coordinated and that other countries could join “in the coming weeks.”
The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, who announced his country’s decision before the parliament, has spent months traveling European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for recognition, as well as for a possible ceasefire in Gaza.
“This recognition is not against anyone, it is not against the people of Israel,” Sanchez said. “It is an act in favor of peace, justice and moral consistency.” He said it is clear that Netanyahu “does not have a peace project,” while acknowledging that “the fight against the terrorist group Hamas is legitimate.”
Their formal recognition is planned for May 28.
President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank occupied by Israel, welcomed the moves and called on other nations to “recognize our legitimate rights and support our people’s struggle for liberation and independence.”
Hamas, which Western countries and Israel consider a terrorist group, does not recognize the existence of Israel but has indicated that it could agree to a state on the 1967 lines, at least temporarily. Israel says any Palestinian state would risk being taken over by Hamas, threatening its security.
The announcements are unlikely to have any impact on the war in Gaza – or the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians – although Norway said it would move to upgrade its representative office in the West Bank to an embassy. .
Israel seized east Jerusalem and considers it part of its capital, and in the occupied West Bank it has built scores of Jewish settlements that are now home to over 500,000 Israelis. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule.
Netanyahu has said that Israel will maintain open-ended security control of Gaza even after any defeat of Hamas, and the war is still raging there. An Israeli airstrike early on Wednesday killed 10 people, including four women and four children, who had been displaced and were taking refuge in central Gaza, according to hospital authorities.
Hugh Lovatt, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “recognition is a tangible step towards a viable political track leading to Palestinian self-determination.”
But for it to have an impact, he said, he must bring “concrete measures to resist the annexation of Israel and the settlement of Palestinian territory – such as banning settlement products and financial services.”
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide defended the importance of the move in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that while the country has supported the establishment of a Palestinian state for decades, it knows that recognition is “a card you can play once. “
“We used to think that recognition would come at the end of a process,” he said. “Now we have realized that recognition should come as a stimulus, as a process strengthening.”
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Wilson reported from Barcelona, ​​Spain, and Krauss from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Jill Lawless in London and David Keyton in Berlin contributed to this story.
