Spain officially recognizes the state of Palestine today. Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez said, “Spain recognizes a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders.” Sanchez’s cabinet is expected to adopt a decree recognizing Palestine as a state today.
Speaking to the cameras before the weekly Cabinet meeting of Spain’s left-wing coalition government, Prime Minister Sanchez explained the reasons behind her decision to recognize the State of Palestine.
Noting that Spain defends “respect for international human rights and compliance with international law” in Palestine, as in Ukraine, Sanchez underlined that his country will always defend the UN Convention on Human Rights.
Sanchez stated that the Council of Ministers will approve the official recognition of the State of Palestine and said, “In this way, Spain will be added to more than 140 countries that recognize Palestine in the world. The recognition of Palestine is a historic decision and its only goal is to contribute to peace between Israel and Palestine.”
“The recognition of the State of Palestine is not only the fulfillment of a historic justice, which is the legitimate demand of the Palestinian people, but it is also a step towards the peace we all want,” Sanchez said. “It is a step towards what we all see as the only possibility for a future of peace, for the Palestinian state to live in peace and security alongside the state of Israel.”
Sanchez underlined that the recognition of a Palestinian State must be “viable,” adding that “Gaza and the West Bank must be united under the same Palestinian Authority, with a corridor between them and East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestine should be united under a national government.”
Emphasizing that the determination of the borders of the Palestinian State depends on the decisions of that country and that Spain will not take a decision on this, Sanchez said, “The determination of the borders belongs entirely to the Palestinian Authority. We will consider the 1967 borders, which have so far been determined in the UN and the EU, as valid.”
Emphasizing the importance of the recognition of Palestine by the international community, Sanchez said:
“As we have said in the past, this decision is not against anyone, especially not against Israel. The Israeli people are a friendly people and we respect them. We want to have the best relations with them. This resolution is also against Hamas, which opposes the two-state solution. From the very first moment, Spain condemned the Hamas attacks of October 7 with all its determination. This is a demonstration of our commitment to fight terrorism.”
Sanchez stated that Spain will have three priorities as of tomorrow regarding the recognition of the Palestinian State, and listed them as follows:
“From tomorrow, we will put all our efforts in favor of a two-state solution. Our priority will be to end the unprecedented crisis in Gaza. First, I call once again for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Second, we will support all initiatives of the Palestinian Authority in the process of forming a new government. The Palestinian Authority is our peace partner and will need all our support. Finally, we will continue our cooperation with Arab countries working for peace and prosperity. We will step up our efforts for an international peace conference to make the two-state solution a reality.”
In November 2014, the Spanish Parliament passed a resolution recognizing the State of Palestine, but this required consensus in the European Union (EU) and then approval by the Council of Ministers.
The left-wing coalition government in Spain had announced that it would recognize the State of Palestine even if there was no consensus within the EU, following the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, mainly in Gaza and the West Bank, and the deaths of more than 35,000 people since October 7.
Today, the Council of Ministers will complete the process by approving the decision to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
Norway and Ireland will also ratify the decision
Today, in addition to Spain, the governments of Norway and Ireland are expected to formally recognize the state of Palestine. A special session of the Irish parliament will be held, the Press Association reports. The Palestinian Mission in Ireland will be converted into an embassy and a Palestinian ambassador to Ireland will be appointed. The current Ambassador in Dublin, Jilan Wahba Abdelmecid, said recently, “I can’t wait to see the Palestinian flag flying in the Irish Parliament. This is a great moment.”
With the step taken by Spain, Ireland and Norway, 145 of the 193 member states of the UN will have recognized the state of Palestine.
