Madrid, Dublin and Oslo on Tuesday said they sought to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. The three nations say they hope their decision will spur other European Union countries to follow suit.

“It’s the only way of advancing toward what everyone recognises as the only possible solution to achieve a peaceful future, one of a Palestinian state that lives side by side with the Israeli state in peace and security,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address.

Spain was recognising a unified Palestinian state, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, under the Palestinian National Authority with East Jerusalem as its capital, he said.

The move means 146 of the 193 member states of the United Nations now recognise a Palestinian state, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation, has welcomed the decision.

Sanchez said Madrid would not recognise any changes to pre-1967 borders unless agreed to by both parties.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said last week it would upgrade its representative office in Ramallah in the West Bank to an embassy, appoint an ambassador and upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission in Ireland to an embassy.

“We had wanted to recognise Palestine at the end of a peace process, however we have made this move alongside Spain and Norway to keep the miracle of peace alive,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said in a statement.

Israel has repeatedly condemned the move. It says it bolsters Hamas, the Islamist militant group that led the deadly October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

“Sanchez, when you … recognize a Palestinian state, you are complicit in incitement to genocide against the Jewish people and in war crimes,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Tuesday.

Of the 27 members of the European Union, Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria have already recognised a Palestinian state. Slovenia is expected to approve recognition on Thursday and Malta has said it is considering the move.

Britain and Australia have said they are considering recognition, but EU member France has said now is not the time, while Germany joined Israel’s staunchest ally, the United States, in rejecting a unilateral approach, insisting that a two-state solution can only be achieved through dialogue.

Norway, which chairs the international donor group to the Palestinians, until recently followed the US position but lost confidence that this strategy would work.

Spaniards have traditionally leaned toward the Palestinians. Since Israel began its offensive on Gaza in response to the October 7 attack, the number of Spaniards supporting a two-state solution has risen to 60 per cent in April from 40 per cent in 2021, according to a poll by the Real Instituto Elcano.

The conflict has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Israel says the October 7 attack, the worst in its 75-year history, killed 1200 people with more than 250 hostages taken.

The decision on recognition was welcomed by Marie Antoinette Sedin, who is now the Palestinian ambassador to Norway.

“It’s a step forward to end the war, to end the occupation and to give the Palestinian people the right to exist in their own independent state, living with dignity, freedom and peace,” Sedin said.

– AAP