Australia will recognise Palestine at UN General Assembly in September — Albanese

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. (Photo/Reuters)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, following similar steps by Canada, the UK and France.

"Until Israeli and Palestinian statehood is permanent, peace can only be temporary," he told reporters on Sunday. "Australia will recognise the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own."

Albanese said that the recognition of Palestine will be predicated on commitment from the Palestinian Authority.

Albanese also added that the situation in besieged Gaza has gone beyond the world's fears and that Israel continues to defy international law.

Albanese has been calling for a two-state solution, with his centre-left government supporting Israel's right to exist within secure borders and the Palestinians' right to their own state.

Global recognition

France and Canada last month said they planned to recognise a Palestinian state, while Britain has said it would follow suit unless Israel addresses the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories and reaches a ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in July that he plans to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September.

Days later, after facing massive public pressure, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said the UK will recognise Palestine at September's UNGA.

Shortly after, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his country will recognise Palestine, citing Canada's commitment to the two-state solution.

Netanyahu’s anger

Israel has condemned decisions by countries to support a Palestinian state, claiming those will reward the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Sunday that most Israeli citizens were against establishing a Palestinian state as they thought that would bring war and not peace, even as thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Tel Aviv, opposing his plan to escalate the nearly two-year genocide and seize Gaza.

"To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole just like that, fall right into it ... this is disappointing and I think it's actually shameful, but it's not going to change our position," Netanyahu said.

Despite Israel's and the US' claims that Palestine is the side that rejects peace, Netanyahu has said time and again that there will never be a Palestinian state as long as he is prime minister.

____

Source: TRT