French move, global outrage at starvation in Gaza pressure Europe leaders on recognizing Palestinian statehood - War on Gaza
Pressures on various European capitals to return to demanding that Israel accepts a two-state solution increased after French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that his country would recognise a Palestinian state in September at the upcoming UN General Assembly.
The French announcement of intent to become the 143rd country to recognize Palestinian Statehood was met with warm praise in the Arab world from Egypt, Jordan, the Arab Gulf States, and the Palestinian presidency.
In the UK, MPs and broad segments of the public were pressuring the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer to follow in the French steps.
In Germany and Italy, two countries that have long supported the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict in principle, the governments of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that while they support a ceasefire in the Gaza war and unfettered entry of aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians but the timing for recognizing aPalestinian statehood might not be right.
For nearly two years, endless pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Europe pressured several governments into coming out against the Israeli war, but could not pressure them into recognizing Palestinian statehood.
The French announcement came a few days after France, the UK, and Italy joined 23 European nations and Japan, New Zealand, and Australia in calling for an immediate end to the Israeli war in Gaza and the unfettered entry of aid to the strip to prevent famine in the strip.
Earlier this month, the EU rejected a proposal put forward by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose government has led the charge in opposing the Israeli war in Gaza from its start within the old continent, to suspend the EU-Israel Association agreement and block imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank over Israeli violations of international law.
This week, in several European capitals, demonstrations and outrage by broad segments of the public over the death of starving Palestinians on top of 200,000 killed and wounded since October 2023, plus calls by many left-leaning and pro-Palestinian MPs for recognition of the State of Palestine, have increased pressure on several European governments to consider the matter.
These public calls in the old continent for leaders to recognise Palestinian statehood have also intensified in the past several days as the images of dead or dying, starving, and emaciated Palestinians, including children, due to the five-month-old Israeli blockade on any food or water to Gaza.
They also intensified after Israel and the US walked away from ceasefire talks with Hamas, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, dashing hopes among many around the world that the carnage in Gaza was nearing its end.
On Friday, Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin, a staunch opponent of the Israeli war in Gaza, welcomed France's move, calling it 'very significant' and noting it would make France the first G7 nation to take such a step.
Ireland, Spain and Norway formally recognized Palestine in May 2024.
Mounting pressure
In Westminster, a parliamentary report published Friday urged immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood.
'The UK has missed multiple opportunities to act decisively in the past. We must not let another opportunity pass us by,' wrote Emily Thornberry, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the UK Parliament.
Senior Labour figures have expressed support for recognition, while the Liberal Democrats have warned that the UK must not 'fall behind' its European allies.
Also on Friday, more than 220 MPs called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to formally recognise the State of Palestine, less than 24 hours after France announced its intention to do so, according to AFP.
The demand came in a letter organised by a Labour MP who chairs the International Development Committee, Sky News reported.
The letter stated that UK recognition would carry particular weight, given Britain's authorship of the Balfour Declaration and its former role as the Mandatory Power in Palestine.
"Since 198,0 we have backed a two-state solution. Such recognition would give that position substance, as well as fulfil a historic responsibility to the people under that Mandate," it added.
So far, Downing Street has resisted these calls, insisting a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza must come first. Ministers have maintained that sovereignty should only be recognised 'at the moment of attaining statehood.'
On Friday, Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, said it had "no plans to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term." A government spokesperson said Berlin considers recognition one of the final steps toward a two-state solution, adding: "Israel's security is of paramount importance to the German government."
Along the same lines, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that while Rome could not accept the "carnage and famine" in Gaza, it was not ready to join France. "We can no longer accept carnage and famine," he said, according to ANSA.
He added Italy would only recognise a Palestinian state "at the same time as their recognition of the state of Israel."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the situation in Gaza "dramatic" on Wednesday, stating: "No military action can justify attacks against civilians."
The UK PM Starmer was expected to join an emergency call with Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz to discuss the spiralling humanitarian crisis.
More than 100 humanitarian organisations have warned of imminent famine. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said its teams are "witnessing catastrophic levels of malnutrition", reporting that one in four young children and pregnant women screened were malnourished, according to the BBC.
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