Recognising Palestinian state is first step in a long battle, experts say

The decision by Norway, Spain and Ireland to recognise Palestine as a separate state has rekindled hope among displaced Palestinians that one day they would be able to return to a country of their own and live there in peace.

Last week’s announcement by the European countries marked a diplomatic win for the Palestinians as Israel continues to carry out a brutal war on Gaza where more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed.

But the impunity with which the Israeli military has bombed hospitals and schools and flattened entire cities leaves a big question mark on how quickly the international community can move on to create a separate state for the Palestinians.

For Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian political scientist, Norway, Spain, and Ireland's recognition of the Palestinian state marks a critical development in the struggle for Palestinian self-determination.

However, the former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), says that while these declarations are significant, recognition should not be viewed as the endpoint but as a step towards achieving full sovereignty and peace for Palestine.

The three countries announced on May 22 that they would recognise the Palestinian state on May 28, a move prompted by the huge numbers of civilian deaths in Gaza since October.

Israel, which has been accused of genocide against the Palestinian people and crimes against humanity, has been widely protested by students in Western countries.

Ireland and Spain are members of the European Union. The recognition of a Palestinian state on their part has given rise to hope that other EU states could follow suit, increasing Israel’s isolation, political experts say.

Currently, seven of the 27 EU countries recognise a Palestinian state: five former Eastern Bloc states and Greek-administered Southern Cyprus, which did so in 1988, and Sweden, which announced its decision in 2014.

“It sends a message to the Israeli government that their plans to normalise their illegal colonial-settlement enterprise and annexation is not going to be accepted,” Abu Eid tells TRT World.

Israel, which opposes any effort to legitimise the Palestinian state on the global stage, responded on Wednesday by recalling its ambassadors from Ireland, Norway, and Spain.

Most countries, about 139 in total, officially recognise the existence of a Palestinian state.

On May 10, 143 out of the 193 United Nations General Assembly members supported a Palestinian request for full UN membership, a status reserved exclusively for states.

“There are over 140 countries that have recognised Palestine, including around 120 that also recognise Israel. Are they planning to cut off diplomatic relations with all of them? The Israeli reaction deals more with the hysterical theatrics of the extremist government that is not capable of confronting such countries with a political plan,” Abu Eid added.

Human rights groups and activists say Israel has actively sought to harm the civilian population of Gaza by bombarding refugee camps, homes and residential buildings since October 7.

The Israeli military assault has involved destroying essential facilities like hospitals and aid convoys and restricting access to basic needs like food, water, and medicine.

Consequently, people in Gaza, particularly children, are suffering from starvation and dehydration, relief agencies warn.

Due to the shortage of medicines in Gaza, medical surgeries like amputations and caesarean procedures are being performed without anaesthesia.

Israel has also targeted cultural institutions such as universities, libraries, religious buildings, and historical sites in an attempt to erase Palestinian footprint on the land.

Questions such as the delineation of borders, the location of the capital, and the initial steps required from both parties to actualise the creation of a Palestinian state have remained unresolved for decades.

‘Punishing Palestinians’

The announcement by Ireland, Norway and Spain has turned out to be a mixed blessing for Mahmoud Abbas’s unpopular Palestinian Authority, which governs in the occupied West Bank and where legislative elections haven’t been held since 2006.

On Wednesday, Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, says Israel would withhold much-needed funds from the Palestinian Authority in reaction to the announcement.

Smotrich, a far-right leader opposed to Palestinian sovereignty, threatened to exacerbate the financial crisis for the Palestinians.

He informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that tax revenues would no longer be transferred to the Palestinian Authority that governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank in close coordination with Israel.

"Their reaction deals more with the hysterical theatrics of the extremist Israeli government that is not capable of confronting such countries with a political plan," Abu Eid tells TRT World.

"There is a consensus among Israeli Zionist parties about the negation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the perpetuation of its colonial-settler enterprise, meaning that they oppose everything: From equality for everyone to the so called “two-state solution”.

"Their opposition to the recognition of the State of Palestine means their determination to perpetuate their Apartheid regime in Palestine," he added.

The already dead two-state solution

All the countries opposing the announcement, including the United States and the United Kingdom, support the idea of a two-state solution.

This solution was first proposed in the UN partition plan of 1947 and later confirmed by both Israel and Palestine in the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.

However, negotiations between the two sides have hit a wall since then. The most recent significant discussions occurred in 2013 and 2014 but did not lead to any meaningful result.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's primary focus throughout his political career has been to prevent a two-state agreement, experts say.

“The two-state solution that people talk about basically would be the greatest reward for the terrorists,” he said in an interview with CNBC.

Meanwhile, the Israeli settlements continue to encroach on Palestinian farmlands in the occupied territories, complicating a future shape of an independent Palestinian state.

Critics argue that the reluctance of Western nations to challenge Israel regarding the two-state solution effectively supports the expansion of settlements.

Zaid Amali, Director of International Advocacy at Palestinian NGO MIFTAH, says the recognitions are important now more than ever because Palestinians face one of the gravest attempts by Israel to erase their existence as seen in the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza.

“As a Palestinian, it seemed to me like it was a historical ecstatic moment, but I quickly realised that it is the bare minimum and it is not enough to bring actual change,” he tells TRT World.

“The genocide in Gaza is still ongoing as we speak.”