Brian McDonald
Ireland, Spain and Norway are recognizing a Palestinian state, the 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 Palestine.” He said the intention is to help find a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution.
Official recognition by the three nations of an independent Palestinian state will come into force on May 28, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said at a press conference on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reported.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, his country’s socialist leader since 2018, made the long-awaited announcement about the recognition of his country’s Parliament on Wednesday.
Violeta Santos Moura/REUTERS
Sánchez spent months visiting countries in Europe and the Middle East to drum up support for the recognition of Palestine, as well as a possible ceasefire in Gaza. He said multiple times that he was committed to change.
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.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered his country’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway to immediately return to Israel and threatened to recall Israel’s ambassador to Spain if that country took a similar stance, which it has done since then.
“Ireland and Norway aim to send a message today to the Palestinians and the entire world: terrorism pays,” said Katz.
He said recognition could hinder efforts to return Israeli hostages held in Gaza and would make a ceasefire less likely by “rewarding Hamas and Iranian jihadists.”
On Wednesday, when announcing Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that “there can be no peace in the Middle East if there is no 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 reflects its measures, has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The terror was committed by Hamas and militant groups that do not support a two-state solution and the State of Israel,” said the leader of the Norwegian government.
“Palestine has the fundamental right to an independent state,” Gahr Støre said at a press conference.
The measure comes at a time when Israeli forces led attacks on the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip in May, causing a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, and drastically restricting the flow of aid, increasing the risk of famine.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore consider Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that this implies,” said Gahr Støre.
Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state comes more than 30 years after the signing of the first Oslo agreement in 1993.
Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
It stated that the World Bank determined that Palestine met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions were created to provide important services to the population.
“The war in Gaza and the constant 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.
