Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that his country will recognize the Palestinian state in September and join the list of Western allies, where international condemnation and rage have been built over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Formal approval will be made at the UN General Assembly next month, with “Australia acknowledging the rights of Palestinians to their own state based on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian authorities,” Albanese said at a press conference.
On Monday, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his country is also considering perceptions of the Palestinian state and would make a decision at the Cabinet meeting in September.
“For some time, New Zealand is about when, not when, the Palestinian state perception,” Peters said in a statement, reflecting the language used by Australian officials in the weeks leading up to Monday’s announcement.
Describing the situation in Gaza as an “absolute human catastrophe,” New Zealand Prime Minister Chrisfer Luxon said at a press conference that “it is perfectly appropriate to take the time to ensure that we actually raise our decisions and work in a wise way.”
Australia will join the UK, France and Canada in September to announce plans to recognize the Palestinian state. The move has made the United States more and more isolated from some of its nearest allies in defending Israel’s escalating military campaign that destroyed the enclaves that were besieged after almost two years of war.
Wellington also moves to mean that four of the Five Eyes Intelligence shared networks that make up the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will recognize the Palestinian state.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a call Sunday that he called Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio to advance notice of Australia’s imminent announcement. Readings of the US call did not mention the Palestinian state.
In an interview with Catholic broadcaster EWTN last week, Rubio said the declaration of support for the Palestinian state was “largely symbolic” and “has made it difficult to encourage Hamas to achieve peace.”
Albanese said Australia received assurance from Palestinian authorities President Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas would not play a role in the future Palestinian nation.
Other conditions include unarmed and holding general elections, a “system of payments to prisoners and martyrs’ families,” as well as governance and education reform, and “international surveillance to prevent inciting violence and hatred.”
“The two states’ solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and end the suffering and starvation of the Gaza conflict,” he said.
“This is more than drawing a line on a map. It’s about providing a lifeline for the people of Gaza.”
“This is starving, pure and simple.”
Canada and France say they will recognize the Palestinian state in September, when world leaders meet in New York for the UN General Assembly. The UK says that if Israel fails to meet the conditions that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza, it will do so too.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare press conference with international media who called steps from the West to recognize the Palestinian state as “embarrassing.”
“Marking European countries and Australia like that into such a rabbit hole will fall soon and be a shame to buy this canard,” Netanyahu said. “But that’s not going to change our position. We don’t commit suicide from the public to get a good surgery for two minutes.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Wong said, “We cannot continue doing the same thing and hope for a different outcome. We cannot continue to wait for the end of the peace process, where there is a basis for a halt.”
Wong was “the only outlook for peace” as “an opportunity as a nation to contribute momentum to the two states.”
Israel announced the expansion of the war in Gaza on Friday, with a planned military takeover of Gaza city expected to involve forced evacuation of up to one million people.
On Sunday, UN officials and members of the UN Security Council denounced the plan, saying it would lead to “another disaster” and constitute “a further violation of international law.”
Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN office of Geneva’s Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA), said what is unfolding in Gaza is “no longer an impending hunger crisis – this is hunger, pure and simple.”
Last month, the Unsupported Food Security Agency’s Integrated Food Security Stage Classification (IPC) warned that “the worst-case scenario of hunger” is being unfolded in Gaza.
Rajasingham told the UN Security Council that hunger-related deaths are on the rise among enclaves, particularly among children. Since October 2023, 98 children have died of severe acute malnutrition. He said 37 people have cited Gaza health authorities for the first time since July 1st.
Israel faces an increase in global condemnation for its actions in Gaza, with massive protests in large cities, including London. And Sydney, Australia – as people show fear and anger towards hunger on the territory.
More than 460 people were arrested in a massive protest in London on Saturday and last week. Over 90,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to protest Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. Organizers are bringing the figures closer to 300,000 and planning more protests than this month.
