Norway will recognize the existence of a Palestinian state from May 28, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced on Wednesday despite warnings from the Israeli government.
It was followed by Spain and Ireland. “Next Tuesday, Spain will adopt in the Council of Ministers the recognition of the Palestinian state,” declared Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the deputies.
He also accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering the two-state solution with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.
“Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain announce that we recognize the State of Palestine,” declared Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, welcoming a “historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine “.
Tel Aviv’s reaction was quick. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the recall “for consultations” of its ambassadors in Ireland and Norway. Spain should certainly be involved next, but the first announcement of recognition of the Palestinian state came from Norway and Ireland.
“Today I am sending a clear message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent on this issue,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement from his office. .
Ireland and Norway want to send “a message to the Palestinians and the whole world: terrorism pays,” responded the head of Israeli diplomacy. “After the terrorist organization Hamas carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, after committing the most horrific sexual crimes the world has known, these countries chose to reward Hamas and Iran and recognize a Palestinian state,” he said.
He described their approach as “twisted”, saying that it was “an injustice to the memory of the victims of October 7” and that it “undermined Israel’s right to self-defense”.
The war was sparked by the Hamas attack on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Of the 252 people taken as hostages on October 7, 124 are still being held in Gaza, including 37 dead according to the army.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation, resulting in the deaths of at least 35,647 people, most of them civilians, according to data from Hamas’ health ministry in Gaza.
