Belgium has said that it plans to impose sanctions on Israel and to recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly, following in the footsteps of countries like France and the UK.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot announced in a statement on X: “Palestine will be recognized by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions are being taken against the Israeli government.”
However, the Western European nation’s top diplomat said that official recognition of Palestinian statehood would be dependent on the Hamas terrorists relinquishing control of Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages taken by the Islamists during the October 7th terror attacks nearly two years ago.
The move puts Brussels largely in line with the left-wing Labour Party government of Sir Kier Starmer in Britain, which has also announced that it plans to back Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, provided that hostages are released and Hamas agrees to a ceasefire and cedes control of the territory.
Other Western nations to have broken with Israel and the United States on the issue this year have included Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Norway, and Spain.
This comes despite Palestine lacking the most basic elements required for statehood, such as clearly defined borders. The region has also failed to hold elections in nearly two decades and has been a major sponsor of Jihadist terrorism against neighbouring Israel, including the October 7th attacks, which saw around 1,200 killed and hundreds more taken hostage.
The Belgian foreign minister also announced a series of planned sanctions against Israel, including listing two “extremist” government ministers in Jerusalem as persona non grata alongside Hamas leaders and “violent” settlers.
Additionally, Prévot said that Brussels intends to ban goods from Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground,” Prévot said.
Jerusalem has been heavily critical of the Western nations breaking ranks to support Palestinian statehood, accusing the leftist governments of rewarding the terrorist actions of Hamas.
Responding to the Belgian announcement on Tuesday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told the AP: “The self-righteous European countries that are being manipulated by Hamas – at the end they’ll discover terrorism on their own flesh.”
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