Two-state solution

Ireland and Spain want to recognize Palestine

The governments of Spain and Ireland are planning to formally recognize Palestine as a state.(Bild: luzitanija/stock.adobe.com)

Ireland's and Spain's governments want to formally recognize Palestine as a state. This is right for several reasons, such as "in the geopolitical interests of Europe", said Spain's head of government Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday. At the same time, he criticized the Israeli government.

Sánchez met with the heads of government of Malta and Ireland. The recognition was right "because the social majority demands it, it is in Europe's geopolitical interest and because the international community cannot help the Palestinian state if it does not recognize it", said Sánchez.

State of Palestine

• Palestine is recognized as a state by 138 (out of a total of 193) member states of the United Nations, Austria is not among them.
• Around five million people live in the areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Ireland's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Micheál Martin also spoke out in favor of a two-state solution on Tuesday evening. Delaying recognition is "no longer credible or tenable." A two-state solution means an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel. This is rejected by both the Israeli government and the Islamist Hamas. Other supporters, however, are the governments of the USA and Germany.

The governments of Spain and Ireland are planning to formally recognize Palestine as a state.(Bild: luzitanija/stock.adobe.com)

Peace under Arab leadership
According to Martin, there should be a peace initiative under Arab leadership. "In addition to the more than 33,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, one million innocent civilians suffer from hunger every day, half a million people suffer from anxiety or depression and every day ten children lose a leg or an arm, often amputated without anaesthetic," said Sánchez on the war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government's response to the Hamas terrorist attack was "completely disproportionate." The massacre on October 7, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, triggered the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he wants to destroy Hamas and get all the hostages back. The terrorist organization abuses civilians as human shields, he said.