Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated decision that Israel condemned as “reward” to Hamas, more than seven months after the devastating bombing of Gaza.
The three European countries believe their initiative has a strong symbolic impact that is likely to encourage others to follow suit, defying Israel, which has condemned the plan.
After the Irish government formally approved the measure, Prime Minister Simon Harris said the aim was to keep hopes of peace in the Middle East alive.
“We wanted to recognize Palestine at the end of the peace process. But we took this step together with Spain and Norway to keep the miracle of peace alive,” he said in a statement, calling on Israel to “stop the humanitarian disaster” in Gaza.
When the Oslo recognition came into force, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide hailed the move as “a special day for Norwegian-Palestinian relations”. After the Spanish cabinet backed the move, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said it was a day that would “go down in Spain’s history”.
Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said recognition was “necessary” for peace, insisting the move “is not against anyone, least of all Israel” and is the only way to secure the future of the two states living side by side “in peace and safety”.
The decision also reflected Spain’s “total rejection of Hamas, which opposes the two-state solution” and whose attacks on October 7 led to the conflict in Gaza, he added.
Tuesday’s move will mean that 145 of the 193 UN member states now recognize Palestinian statehood. On October 7, Hamas fighters swept into southern Israel in an attack that killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on an Israeli official. characters.
Palestinian fighters also captured 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza.
The Israeli military says 37 of them are dead.
Israel’s relentless retaliatory offensive, which has been widely condemned worldwide, has killed more than 36,000 people in Gaza, including mostly civilians, according to the country’s health ministry.
Spain, Ireland, Norway to respond ‘firmly’ to Israeli rebuke: minister
Spain, Ireland and Norway will also jointly issue a “firm” response to Israel’s angry response to their decision to recognize a Palestinian state, Spain’s top diplomat said.
The plans, unveiled by the three countries last week, sparked a furious reaction from Israel, which was shaken, particularly online, when its foreign minister, Israel Katz, posted several controversial messages on X, formerly Twitter.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares accused Katz of trying to deflect attention from his actions.
“I am well aware that my Israeli colleague spent his days creating provocations, posting vile false accusations on social media about our government and the Irish and Norwegian governments,” Albares said.
“I completely understand his strategy […] that instead of talking about a Palestinian state, a ceasefire, the release of hostages and access to humanitarian aid, we focus on [Israeli] online posts and provocations.”
He said the three governments would issue a “coordinated response […] that will be calm but firm”.
Israel denounced the recognition as a “prize”.
Katz posted one video combining footage of violence with flamenco dancing and said: “Sanchez: Hamas thanks you for your service.
Spain called the post “scandalous and disgusting”. But on Tuesday, Katz went even further.
“Sanchez, until you fire your representative and recognize a Palestinian state, you are participating in the incitement of genocide and war crimes against the Jewish people,” he wrote on X.
He was referring to comments last week by Sanchez’s far-left deputy, Yolanda Diaz, who welcomed the recognition move, saying: “We cannot stop. Palestine will be freed from the river to the sea”.
The slogan, which is widely used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, refers to the British Mandate borders of Palestine, which stretched from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea before the creation of Israel in 1948.
Israel’s ambassador to Madrid condemned the remarks as “a clear call to eliminate Israel.”
The recognition of Palestinian statehood has caused sharp disagreements in the 27-member European Union.
For decades, formal recognition of a Palestinian state was seen as the end of a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Washington and most Western European countries have said they are willing to one day recognize Palestinian statehood, but not before agreement is reached on thorny issues such as the status of Jerusalem and final borders.
The bloodshed in Gaza has revived calls for a Palestinian state of their own.
In 2014, Sweden became the first EU member to recognize a Palestinian state.
It was followed by six other European countries that took this step before joining the bloc: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
Slovenia is expected to approve the recognition on Thursday and Malta has said it is considering the move.
Britain and Australia have said they are considering recognition, but EU member France has said now is not the time, while Germany has joined Israel’s staunchest ally, the United States, in rejecting a unilateral approach and insisting a two-state solution can only be achieved through dialogue .
Norway, which chairs an international donor group for the Palestinians, until recently followed the US stance, but has lost confidence that the strategy will work.
The Spanish have traditionally sided with the Palestinians. Since Israel launched an offensive on Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack, the number of Spaniards supporting a two-state solution rose to 60 percent in April from 40 percent in 2021, according to a survey by the Real Instituto Elcano.
The recognition decision was welcomed by Marie Antoinette Sedin, who is now the Palestinian ambassador to Norway.
“It’s a step forward to end the war, end the occupation and give the Palestinian people the right to exist in their own independent state, to live in dignity, freedom and peace,” Sedin told Reuters.
