In a coordinated attempt to exert added international pressure on the regime to stop its genocidal campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, the three major western European nations on Tuesday joined dozens of countries that have already recognized a Palestinian state.
The joint declaration had already been announced the previous week. The trio is the first major Western powers to officially recognize Palestine.
Spain, Ireland and Norway’s recognition marks a significant accomplishment for the Palestinian nation, confirming the international legitimacy of the State of Palestine.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain said the move will bring peace to the region.
“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.”
Sanchez told Spanish lawmakers last week that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the so-called two-state solution in danger with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris described the move as an important decision to keep up hope for peace.
“This is an important moment and I think it sends a signal to the world that there are practical actions you can take as a country to help keep the hope and destination of a two-state solution alive at a time when others are trying to sadly bomb it into oblivion,” Harris said at a cabinet meeting in Dublin to formally sign off on the decision.
Norway’s foreign minister said the European country has been supporting Palestinian statehood for three decades.
“For more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognizes Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine,” Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.
The announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway to recognize Palestinian statehood triggered an angry response from Israeli officials, summoning the countries’ ambassadors.
More than two-thirds of the United Nations, approximately 140 countries, already recognize a Palestinian state.
Palestine’s history exceeds thousands of years. It was recognized in ancient times as a Syrian and later Ottoman Empire province.
Britain gained control of the region via the Palestine Mandate with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. It had been approved on July 22, 1922 at a private meeting of the Council of the League of Nations at St. James’s Palace in London.
On November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat, declared “the State of Palestine in our land of Palestine, with [AL-Quds] Jerusalem as its capital.”
But the usurpers of the land of Palestine never retreated.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, 2023 against the usurping regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities.
Israel has killed at least 36,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since that October day.
Press TV