Australia to recognise Palestinian state at UNGA in September, New Zealand considering similar move

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday his country’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations General Assembly, joining international pressure on the Zionist entity amid its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.

“Australia will recognise the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September to contribute to international momentum towards a two-state solution,” Albanese said in a statement.

“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he told a press conference.

Australia last week criticised the occupation’s plan to take military control of Gaza.

In a joint statement with Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Albanese said the occupying authorities are “extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state.”

Separately, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed on Monday that his country is considering recognising the Palestinian state and will make a decision over the next month.

In a statement, Peters said he spoke about the matter at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, and the government would formally consider the move, coming to a decision in September, state-run Radio New Zealand reported.

The foreign minister will attend the UN General Assembly in New York in late September and present the government’s approach to the UN at that time.