Step toward ‘just and lasting peace’

AFP | London

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Historic shift as UK, Australia, Canada and Portugal recognise Palestinian state

Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal yesterday recognised a Palestinian state in a coordinated, historic shift in decades of Western foreign policy, triggering swift anger from Israel.

Portugal made it the latest Western nation to make the symbolic move as the war in Gaza shows no sign of ending.

Other countries, including France, are due to follow today at the annual UN General Assembly opening in New York.

Pressure

Israel has come under huge international pressure over its war against Hamas in Gaza launched in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack, which has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the statehood moves and vowed “it will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”

He slammed the move as “absurd” and said it would “endanger” Israel’s existence, later vowing to expand Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hope

Netanyahu spoke after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was formally recognising the State of Palestine “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution”.

The UK and Canada became the first members of the Group of Seven advanced economies to take the step, with Australia following suit.

Three-quarters of UN members now recognise Palestinian statehood, with at least 144 of the 193 member countries having taken the step, according to an AFP tally.

Canada “offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future”, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X.

Aspirations

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the move “recognises the legitimate and long held aspirations of the people of Palestine to a state of their own”.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas hailed the recognitions as “an important and necessary step toward achieving a just and lasting peace”.

It is a watershed moment for Palestinians and their ambitions for statehood, with the most powerful Western nations having long argued it should only come as part of a negotiated peace deal with Israel.

Although a largely symbolic move, it puts those countries at odds with the United States and Israel. US President Donald Trump said last week after talks with Starmer during a state visit to the UK that “one of our few disagreements” was over Palestinian statehood.

And French President Emmanuel Macron insisted in an interview with a US television network that releasing the hostages captured in 2023 would be “a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine”.