Britain, Canada, and Australia Formally Recognize Palestinian State in Push for Two-State Solution
Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining other nations in a move aimed at reviving momentum for a two-state solution.
The three nations’ decision aligned them with about 140 other countries which also back Palestinians’ aspiration to forge an independent homeland.
More countries are expected to do so at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including France, which like the U.K., is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in his statement that the three announcements on Sunday were “part of a coordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution.”
President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Britain’s announcement, stressing that it constitutes an important and necessary step toward achieving a just peace in accordance with international law.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin also welcomed the countries’ recognition, saying: “It is a move bringing us closer to sovereignty and independence. It might not end the war tomorrow, but it’s a move forward, which we need to build on and amplify.”
“Now is the time. Tomorrow is a historic date we need to build on. It’s not the end,” Shahin told reporters in Ramallah.
“The ministry sees these recognitions as acknowledgment of the just and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, helping protect the two-state solution from threats arising from ongoing crimes of extermination, starvation, displacement and annexation committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people,” said the Palestinian foreign ministry, adding that it looked forward to building stronger relations “at all levels” with the states that recognised it.
Western governments have been under pressure from many in their parties and populations amid mounting outrage at the ever-rising death toll in Gaza and images of starving children.
Last week, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry said it had concluded that “Israel” is committing genocide in Gaza, a finding also reached by a scholars’ association and Amnesty International.
This comes as the Zionist occupation’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 65,283 Palestinians and wounded 166,575 others since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble.
