Australia said Monday that he plans to recognize a Palestinian state, joining a growing list of western governments that make the movement as Israel is increasingly isolated on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would recognize a Palestinian State at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month.
“A solution of two states is the best hope of humanity to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and put an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he said at a press conference After a cabinet meeting in Canberra.
The Australian announcement follows the like in recent weeks by Great Britain, France and Canada. Although largely symbolic, they indicate a broader global change against Israel’s policies in Gaza, where the United Nations and others say that people are dying of malnutrition and hunger after months of limited or non -existent help.
Albanese said that Australia’s position was based on the commitments he had received from the Palestinian authority, including that there would be no paper for Hamas in any future Palestinian state.
The Israel-Ahamas War began on October 7, 2023, with a terrorist attack against Israel in which Militants led by Hamas killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped another 251. Albanese said that Australia is with Israel when asking for the release of the 50 hostages that remain in Gaza, about 20 of which Israel believes that they are still alive.
“For the good of their loved ones and all who share their pain, we repeat that call today,” he said.
New Zealand also said Monday that he was considering the recognition of a Palestinian State and would make a formal decision in September.
“New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if,” said Foreign Minister Winston Peters, in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized such movements at a press conference on Sunday before Australia’s announcement.
“Make European countries and Australia march to that horn of the rabbit, as well as that, falls directly to it and buy this canard, is disappointing, and I think it is actually shameful,” he said.
Netanyahu also defended the widely condemned proposal of his government for a new military offensive in Gaza, that critics, as the humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen in the enclave and endanger the hostages that are still in the hands of Hamas.
He said that Israel had no “other option”, but to “end the job” and “defeat Hamas”, and that his goal was to rescue the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu also denied that there was a hunger in Gaza, a directly contradicted claim on Sunday by an UN officer informing an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
“This is no longer an imminent crisis of hunger: this is hunger, pure and simple,” said Rajesh Rajasingham Humanitarian Coordination official to the Council.
