Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognize a Palestinian state as EU rift with Israel widens

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated effort by the three Western European nations to add international pressure on Israel to soften its response to last year’s Hamas-led attack. Israel condemned the diplomatic move, which will have no immediate impact on the war in Gaza.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address from Madrid that “this is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly lashed out at Spain on X, saying that Sánchez’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”

Ireland and Norway soon joined Spain in formalizing a decision they had jointly announced the previous week.

The Palestinian flag was raised in Dublin outside Leinster House, the seat of Ireland’s parliament.

“I hope (this) sends the Palestinian people a message of hope that — in this their darkest hour — Ireland stands with them,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told lawmakers in Ireland’s parliament after his Cabinet formally signed off on the decision.

“It is no longer enough just to condemn. It is no longer enough just to be repulsed,” he added. “We must be on the right side of history.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement that “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.”

While around 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state — more than two-thirds of the United Nations — none of the major Western powers has done so. Still, the adherence of three European countries to the group represents a victory for Palestinian efforts in the world of public opinion, and will likely put pressure on European Union heavyweights France and Germany to rethink their position.

Previously only seven members of the 27-nation EU officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former East bloc countries that announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the EU. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.

Relations between the EU and Israel have nosedived with the diplomatic recognitions by two EU members, and Madrid insisting on Monday that the EU should take measures against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.

After Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said: “For the first time at an EU meeting, in a real way, I have seen a significant discussion on sanctions” on Israel.

Harris, the Irish leader, insisted Tuesday that the EU should consider economic sanctions against Israel, saying: “Europe could be doing a hell of a lot more.”

Norway, which isn’t an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc, handed diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government over the weekend before its formal recognition.

At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his weight behind the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.

The formal declaration and resulting diplomatic dispute come more than seven months into an assault waged by Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Israel’s air and land attacks have killed 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The joint announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway last week triggered an angry response from Israeli authorities, which summoned the countries’ ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the Foreign Ministry, where they were filmed while being shown videos of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and abductions.

Prime Minister Robert Golob of Slovenia said that Monday his government would decide on the recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday, and forward its decision to parliament for final approval.

Finnish state broadcaster YLE quoted President Alexander Stubb as saying that the Nordic country would recognize it “at some stage in the future” also on Tuesday.

The U.S. and the United Kingdom, among others, back the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but say it should come as part of a negotiated settlement. Netanyahu’s government says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations.

In his speech on Tuesday, Sánchez said that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “a decision that we do not adopt against anyone, least of all against Israel, a friendly people whom we respect, whom we appreciate and with whom we want to have the best possible relationship.”

The Socialist leader has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries, including stops in Oslo and Dublin, to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state. He called for a permanent cease-fire, for stepping up humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the release of hostages still held by Hamas.

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, will meet with a group of U.S.-allied Middle Eastern countries in Spain’s capital on Wednesday, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.

Sánchez said that his intention was to back the beleaguered Palestinian Authority, which lost effective political control of Gaza to Hamas. He laid out his vision for a state ruled by the Palestinian Authority that must connect the West Bank and Gaza via a corridor with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, cooperates with Israel on security matters and favors a negotiated two-state solution. Its forces were driven out of Gaza by Hamas when the militants seized power there in 2007.

The Palestinians have long sought an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The idea of a land corridor linking Gaza and the West Bank through Israel was discussed in previous rounds of peace talks, but no serious or substantive peace negotiations have been held in more than 15 years.

“We will not recognize changes in the 1967 border lines other than those agreed to by the parties,” Sánchez added.

“Furthermore, this decision reflects our absolute rejection of Hamas, a terrorist organization who is against the two-state solution,” Sánchez said. “From the outset, Spain has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7. This clear condemnation is the resounding expression of our steadfast commitment in the fight against terrorism. I would like to underline that starting tomorrow, we would focus all our efforts to implement the two-state solution and make it a reality.”

Ireland’s government said it would appoint an ambassador and create a full embassy in Ramallah in the West Bank. Norway will upgrade its diplomatic office in the West Bank to an embassy. Spain said that for the moment, it will maintain its consulate in Jerusalem, although Israel has said that the consulate won’t be allowed to attend to Palestinians.

Barth Eide, the Norwegian foreign minister, added Tuesday that “it is regrettable that the Israeli government shows no signs of engaging constructively.”

“The recognition is a strong expression of support for moderate forces in both countries,” Norway’s top diplomat said.

___

Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Jill Lawless and Brian Melley in London, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Raf Casert in Brussels, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press