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Spain and Ireland are discussing a joint plan to recognize Palestine as a state amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland are scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss a joint plan for recognition of a Palestinian state.
The talks took place as the death toll from Israel’s war in Gaza exceeds 33,000.
Rising deaths, famine and infrastructure in the besieged enclave have led to increased international criticism of Israel. Even within Europe, concerns about Israel’s war in Gaza have led to a change in position, with an increasing number of countries considering the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state.
Here’s what’s going on and how it’s changing.
What do Ireland and Spain say about a Palestinian state?
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet Ireland’s new leader Simon Harris in Dublin on Friday. Both Spain and Ireland have confirmed their recognition of a Palestinian state in recent weeks.
This is the first of many meetings Sanchez plans to hold next week to rally support for recognizing Palestine.
Government spokesperson Pilar Alegría told reporters that Sanchez will also meet with the prime ministers of Norway, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia and Belgium.
“We want to help stop the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and start a political peace process that will lead to the early realization of a two-state solution,” Alegría said.
Over the course of the war, which began on October 7, Ireland and Spain emerged as the biggest supporters of Palestine within the European Union (EU).
Are other European countries also changing their position on the Palestinian state?
At the March 22 summit, the leaders of Ireland and Spain joined the leaders of Slovenia and Malta in pledging to recognize a Palestinian state.
Currently, only eight of the 27 EU member states recognize Palestine as a state: Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, and Cyprus.
If Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta join, the number of EU member states that recognize a Palestinian state will increase to 12.
However, the EU has not recognized Palestine as a state despite multiple diplomatic efforts from within the region over the years. Some of the EU’s most powerful and influential countries, including Germany and France, take the position that a Palestinian state should only be recognized as part of a two-state solution with Israel.
Is Europe’s position on the war changing more broadly?
Israel has also faced criticism from other European countries during the war. On November 10, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo judged Israel’s operation in Gaza to be disproportionate.
“I think it would be unjust if we were to bomb an entire refugee camp to eliminate terrorists,” he said, but insisted that “Belgium will not be on our side.”
A few days later, Belgium’s deputy prime minister called for sanctions against Israel, an unprecedented move for a European country. And in late November, the prime ministers of Belgium and Spain held a joint press conference in Rafah, on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza, and criticized Israel’s war.
After Israel accused the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) of links to the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, several countries cut funding to UNRWA. However, European countries, including Romania, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden, continued to support the UN agency.
“I think cutting funding is the wrong response, because it reeks of collective punishment,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Bart Eide told Al Jazeera.
What is the current position of the rest of the world regarding Palestine?
The United States, Israel’s biggest ally, also recently warned Israel against plans for a ground operation into Rafah. It also did not veto the previous UN resolution calling for a ceasefire during Ramadan. However, the United States continues to provide military aid to Israel.
Other countries are also stepping up support for Palestine. South Africa’s genocide case against Israel is pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and Nicaragua also filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday asking Germany to stop supplying weapons to Israel.
A total of 139 of the 193 United Nations member states recognize Palestine as a state.
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