France plans to acknowledge the country’s sovereignty at next week’s UN General Assembly
The UK, Canada and Australia have formally recognized the State of Palestine. The move comes as more than 140 world leaders are preparing to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly summit in New York next week, which will be dominated by questions regarding the region.
Canada was the first of these countries to officially recognize Palestine on Sunday, with Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing that Ottawa “recognizes the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the state of Palestine and the State of Israel.”
The move was shortly followed by similar announcements from Australia and the UK.
“Australia’s recognition of Palestine today, alongside Canada and the United Kingdom, is part of a co-ordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution, starting with a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages taken in the atrocities of October 7, 2023,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said in a joint statement.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the decision is intended to “revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution,” adding “I state clearly, as prime minister of this great country, that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine,” in a video statement posted on social media.
Earlier in September, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly supported a resolution calling for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. In opposing the measure, Washington and West Jerusalem were only joined by eight other countries, including the remote Pacific island nations of Palau, Tonga, Micronesia and Nauru.
In prior decisions, the UN had limited itself to condemning the Hamas attack on Israel, in which the militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.
The subsequent Israeli siege of Gaza has left nearly 65,000 Palestinians dead so far, according to local health authorities, and produced a devastating humanitarian situation in the enclave, leading to mounting international pressure on West Jerusalem to end its campaign.
Many countries have since condemned the war and a number have chosen to acknowledge Palestinian statehood. At the upcoming UNGA session, France and Belgium are expected to follow suit and formally recognize the country.
Moscow views a two-state solution as the only way to deescalate and end the Gaza War. As the legal successor to the Soviet Union, Russia has long recognized the State of Palestine.
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