Spain, Ireland, Norway announce they will recognise the State of Palestine

The countries say the move is aimed at injecting new momentum into efforts to secure long-lasting peace in the war-torn region.

Transcript

00:00 Spain, Norway and the Republic of Ireland said they are going to recognise the State

00:08 of Palestine. Norway was the first to announce the move early on Wednesday, followed shortly

00:15 by Madrid and Dublin.

00:16 This is a historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine. On the 21st of January

00:27 1919, Ireland asked the world to recognise our right to be an independent state. Our

00:35 message to the free nations of the world was a plea for international recognition of our

00:40 independence, emphasising our distinct national identity, our historical struggle and our

00:46 right to self-determination and justice. Today, we use the same language to support the recognition

00:54 of Palestine as a state.

00:56 We will join the more than 140 countries in the world that recognise the State of Palestine.

01:09 The vast majority of countries that voted in favour of Palestine's entry into the United

01:16 Nations as a full member state.

01:19 We hope not to be the last, we hope that our recognition and our reasons will help other

01:25 countries in the world to follow this path.

01:28 Sanchez and his Irish counterpart have been rallying for months to form a coalition of

01:33 pro-Palestine EU countries. The recognition by Spain, Norway and Ireland is expected to

01:39 be made official on Tuesday, the 28th of May. Slovenia, Malta and Belgium also signalled

01:46 they may soon follow suit.

01:49 The latest war between Israel and Hamas, which caused the death of over 35,000 people between

01:55 civilians and soldiers, as well as millions of displaced, saw a decisive push towards

02:01 a two-state solution, which is also backed by the UN and the United States. So far, Israel

02:08 has firmly refused such an agreement.

02:11 Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, said that Wednesday's events send a message to

02:17 the Palestinians and the whole world that "terrorism pays".

02:22 The Irish government says it strongly rejects any criticism by Israel that this action plays

02:28 into the hands of Hamas. They say Hamas is not the Palestinian people and reiterated

02:32 calls for them to release the hostages back to their loved ones immediately. But the Prime

02:37 Minister says it's time to breathe new life into the two-state solution, to give hope

02:41 to the people of Gaza suffering unbearably and, as he says, give hope to the children

02:46 of Gaza who go to sleep at night not knowing if they'll ever wake up.

02:52 [Speaking in Hebrew]

02:54 [WHOOSH]