Three European countries will officially recognize the State of Palestine today. Tuesday 28 May 2024 will be remembered as a historic date. The three governments of Spain, Norway and Ireland join the 142 states in the world that have already signed the United Nations initiative on the existence of Palestine. Italy and the United States are not among them. Nine of these are in Europe, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia.

"Spain recognizes the State of Palestine". "At today's meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Government of Spain will approve the recognition of the State of Palestine. Spain thus joins over 140 countries in the world that already recognize Palestine. This is a historic decision with the sole objective: help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace." "We are not taking this decision against anyone", said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Norway, Ireland and Spain have expressed their opinion on the decision of the International Court of Justice to stop the offensive in Rafah. Ireland's foreign minister, Michael Martin, said: "What we witnessed last night is barbaric. Gaza is a small enclave, a densely populated conurbation. You cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent victims among children and civilians".

Barth Eide, the Norwegian foreign minister, points out that "in much of the world there is a perception that there are double standards, that the rules apply to some, but not to all. I would like to remind you that the International Criminal Court concerns 124 countries, but the International Court of Justice is the main body of the United Nations. Every member of the United Nations must submit to the decisions of the International Court of Justice". 

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.