Norway will recognise the existence of a Palestinian state as of May 28, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stere announced today.
Shortly after 10:00 and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that his country will recognise the existence of a Palestinian state as of Tuesday, May 28.
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Simon Harris, said the same, adding that he expects other countries to follow Ireland, Spain and Norway and take the same step in the coming weeks.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video addressed to Dublin to warn it that by recognizing a Palestinian state it would become “a pawn in the hands of Iran” and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Israeli ambassadors to Ireland and Norway recalled
Israel’s Foreign Ministry today announced the recall “for consultations” of the country’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway, following Oslo’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state as of May 28 and the upcoming announcement of a similar decision by Dublin.
“Today I am sending a clear message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent regarding this issue,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Kats
The Israeli government says recognition of a Palestinian state without prior negotiations would be a “reward for the terrorism” of Hamas, the Tehran-backed Palestinian Islamist movement that launched an unprecedented October 7 assault on the Gaza Strip against southern sectors of Israeli territory.
Memorial service for Konstantinos Karamanlis
In retaliation for this attack, in which more than 1 170 people died, the majority of them civilians, according to a French Agency account based on official Israeli data, the Netanyahu government vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and began large-scale bombing and, from the end of the same month, ground operations.
Since 7 October, at least 35,647 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, have died in the Gaza Strip as a result of the non-stop bombing and ground operations, which have also caused a humanitarian disaster, according to the UN.
