AIRLINK 81.10 Increased By ▲ 2.55 (3.25%)
BOP 4.82 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.68%)
DFML 37.98 Decreased By ▼ -1.31 (-3.33%)
DGKC 93.00 Decreased By ▼ -2.65 (-2.77%)
FCCL 23.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-1.32%)
FFBL 32.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.77 (-2.35%)
FFL 9.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.39%)
GGL 10.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.89%)
HASCOL 6.65 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.68%)
HBL 113.00 Increased By ▲ 3.50 (3.2%)
HUBC 145.70 Increased By ▲ 0.69 (0.48%)
HUMNL 10.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-1.77%)
KEL 4.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.33%)
KOSM 4.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.29%)
MLCF 38.25 Decreased By ▼ -1.15 (-2.92%)
OGDC 131.70 Increased By ▲ 2.45 (1.9%)
PAEL 24.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.98 (-3.79%)
PIBTL 6.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.42%)
PPL 120.00 Decreased By ▼ -2.70 (-2.2%)
PRL 23.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-1.85%)
PTC 12.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.89 (-6.85%)
SEARL 59.95 Decreased By ▼ -1.23 (-2.01%)
SNGP 65.50 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.46%)
SSGC 10.15 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (2.63%)
TELE 7.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.13%)
TPLP 9.87 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.2%)
TRG 64.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.08%)
UNITY 26.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.33%)
WTL 1.33 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.76%)
BR100 8,052 Increased By 75.9 (0.95%)
BR30 25,581 Decreased By -21.4 (-0.08%)
KSE100 76,707 Increased By 498.6 (0.65%)
KSE30 24,698 Increased By 260.2 (1.06%)
World

Norway, Ireland, Spain say will recognise Palestinian state

Published May 22, 2024
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announces that the government will recognize Palestine as an independent state from May 28, during a press conference in Marmorhallen in Oslo, Norway, May 22, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announces that the government will recognize Palestine as an independent state from May 28, during a press conference in Marmorhallen in Oslo, Norway, May 22, 2024. Photo: Reuters

OSLO: Norway, Ireland and Spain announced on Wednesday that they will recognise a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys.

Ireland’s leader said his nation would recognise Palestine as a state but did not specify timing, while leaders of Norway and Spain said their nations would do so as of May 28.

Spain says Europe is ready to recognise Palestinian state

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store made the announcement in Oslo, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris in Dublin.

 The Palestinian flag was raised in the courtyard outside Oslo City Hall on Wednesday morning in Oslo, Norway. Photo: Reuters
The Palestinian flag was raised in the courtyard outside Oslo City Hall on Wednesday morning in Oslo, Norway. Photo: Reuters

Israel immediately announced it was recalling its envoys to Ireland and Norway for “urgent consultations”.

“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, adding that he planned to do the same with the Spanish ambassador.

The Israeli foreign ministry had earlier posted a video message addressed to Ireland on the social media platform X warning that “recognising a Palestinian state risks turning you into a pawn in the hands of Iran and Hamas”, adding the move would “only fuel extremism and instability”.

Israeli forces raze parts of Gaza’s Jabalia, hit Rafah with airstrikes

Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the situation in Gaza.

‘Only alternative’

But Norway – which has played a key role in Middle East diplomacy over the years, hosting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s which led to the Oslo Accords – said recognition was needed to support moderate voices amid the Gaza crisis.

“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Store said.

“Recognition of Palestine is a means of supporting the moderate forces which have been losing ground in this protracted and brutal conflict,” he said.

Australia says Palestinian UN membership bid builds peace momentum

“This could ultimately make it possible to resume the process towards achieving a two-state solution and give it renewed momentum,” he added.

Spain’s Sanchez said in parliament in Madrid: “Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.

And Ireland’s Harris hailed a “historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.”

For decades, the formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been seen as the endgame of a peace process between Palestinians and their Israeli neighbours.

Dozens killed, wounded as Israeli forces thrust deeper in Gaza’s Jabalia and Rafah

The United States and most Western European nations have said they are willing to one day recognise Palestinian statehood, but not before agreement is reached on thorny issues like final borders and the status of occupied Jerusalem.

But after Hamas’s October 7 attacks and Israel’s aggression in Gaza, diplomats are reconsidering once-contentious ideas.

In 2014, Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, became the first EU member in western Europe to recognise Palestinian statehood.

It had earlier been recognised by six other European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

 People attend a demonstration in support of Gaza and Palestinians, organised by the Palestine Committee, outside the building of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, in Oslo, Norway. Photo: Reuters
People attend a demonstration in support of Gaza and Palestinians, organised by the Palestine Committee, outside the building of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, in Oslo, Norway. Photo: Reuters

Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel, Hamas reject bid before ICC to arrest leaders for war crimes

Israel’s retaliatory aggression has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Comments

200 characters
Az_Iz May 22, 2024 05:24pm
The right decision. The supporters of the Palestinians welcome it wholeheartedly.
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply
Re=== May 22, 2024 08:44pm
@Az_Iz , Good, but why is Pakistan not officially recognizing Palestine. Pakistan supports Palestine, but does not officially recognize yet. Why?
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply
test May 22, 2024 11:21pm
Thanks a lot to these countries especially Spain, Norway, Ireland for recognizing Palestinian Statehood. They will do their part in stopping the war so that innocent palestinian are not killed anymore
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply
test May 22, 2024 11:23pm
@Re===, Pakistan do recognize Palestine and will always support Palestine no matter what.
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply