Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday in what Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a "historic decision". The move has been slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.
By joining more than 140 of the 193 UN member states that recognise a Palestinian state, Spain, Ireland and Norway said they sought to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.
The three European countries believe their initiative has a strong symbolic impact, which is likely to encourage others to follow suit.
They also point to Norway and Spain's historic role in advancing Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.
In 1991, the two sides sat down together for the first time at the Madrid peace conference that paved the way for the 1993 Oslo Accords.
"This is a historic decision that has a single objective: that Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address on Tuesday before a cabinet meeting that will formally approve the measure.
"Recognition of the State of Palestine is not only a matter of historic justice ... It is also an essential requirement if we are all to achieve peace," said Sanchez.
The move, he said, was "not against anyone, least of all Israel".
"It is the only way to move towards the solution that we all recognise as the only possible way to achieve a peaceful future – that of a Palestinian state living side-by-side with the state of Israel in peace and security."
Sanchez also said the decision reflected Spain's "outright rejection of Hamas, which is against the two-state solution" and whose October 7 attacks led to the Gaza war.
The plans were unveiled last week in a co-ordinated announcement by the prime ministers of the three countries.
'Full diplomatic relations between Dublin and Ramallah'
Ireland officially recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday after the government approved the recognition in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
"The Government recognises Palestine as a sovereign and independent state and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations between Dublin and Ramallah," the statement said. "An Ambassador of Ireland to the State of Palestine will be appointed along with a full Embassy of Ireland in Ramallah."
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the move was about keeping hopes for peace alive.
"This decision of Ireland is about keeping hope alive. It is about believing that a two-state solution is the only way for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security," he said in the statement.
"I again call on Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel to listen to the world and stop the humanitarian catastrophe we are seeing in Gaza."
Differences within the EU
Although Slovenia has also started the process of recognising a Palestinian state, the issue has provoked sharp disagreement within the 27-nation European Union.
Spain and Ireland are part of the bloc.
Of the 27 EU members, Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria have already recognised a Palestinian state. Malta, like Slovenia, has indicated it could follow.
Britain and Australia have said they are considering recognition, but France has said now is not the time, while Germany joined Israel's staunchest ally, the US, in rejecting a unilateral approach, insisting that a two-state solution can only be achieved through dialogue.
For decades, formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been seen as the endgame of a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The spiralling bloodshed in Gaza has revived calls for Palestinians to be given their own state, with a growing number of European countries expressing a desire to do so.
Tuesday's move by Spain, Ireland and Norway will mean the majority of the UN's 193 member states will now recognise Palestinian statehood.
These include many Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries.
'Partner to incitement' to Jewish genocide
The decision by Madrid, Dublin and Oslo has provoked a furious response from Israel.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Sanchez of being a "partner to incitement" to Jewish "genocide" shortly after the Spanish prime minister delivered his televised address to the nation.
"You are a partner to incitement to genocide of the Jewish people", Katz wrote in Spanish on X. His post draws parallel between Spanish minister Yolanda Diaz, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar.
Diaz has been criticised by Jewish groups following her call for a free Palestine, "from the river to the sea".
On Monday, Katz began taking "preliminary punitive measures" against Spain, ordering its Jerusalem consulate to stop offering consular services to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
"We will not put up with harming Israel's sovereignty and security," Katz said, describing recognition of Palestinian statehood as "an award to Hamas".
On October 7, Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza. The Israeli army says 37 of them are dead.
Israel's relentless retaliatory offensive has killed more than 36,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
