Israel let its anger explode on Wednesday after the decision of three European countries to recognize the State of Palestine, in the midst of war between its army and Palestinian Hamas in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip.
The creation of a viable Palestinian state appears to be a very uncertain prospect due to Israel’s refusal to hear about it and the Jewish colonization which is fragmenting the territories on which the Palestinians aim to establish it.
But this recognition, announced by Spain, Ireland and Norway, is considered an important diplomatic victory for Palestinian leaders in their quest to end 57 years of Israeli occupation.
And it constitutes a new setback for Israel after the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan requested arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged “crimes against humanity”, at the same time as against the leaders of Hamas, in the context of the war.
“Israel will not remain silent on this issue” of recognition, thundered the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, announcing the summons of the ambassadors of Spain, Ireland and Norway, and the recall for consultations of the Israeli ambassadors in these three countries.
“Reward for Terrorism”
Recognition of the State of Palestine is “a reward for terrorism,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce opponent of the idea of such a state living alongside Israel. “We cannot give this Evil a State. »
The three European states announced their decision as the war rages between Israel and Hamas since an unprecedented attack launched on October 7, 2023 by commandos of the Palestinian Islamist movement infiltrated from the neighboring Gaza Strip in southern Israel.
The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 252 people taken as hostages on October 7, 124 are still being held in Gaza, including 37 dead, according to the army.
In response, Mr. Netanyahu vowed to wipe out Hamas, with his army launching a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States, took over. power in 2007.
At least 35,709 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have died in this offensive, including 62 in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the government of the Palestinian territory led by Hamas.
The families of five Israeli soldiers held hostage in Gaza on Wednesday authorized the release of images showing the moment of their capture during the October 7 attack. We can see these young women, some with bloody faces, sitting on the ground, their hands tied behind their backs.
“Empty shells”
“After the terrorist organization Hamas carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, after committing the most horrific sexual crimes the world has known, these countries chose to reward Hamas […] and recognize a Palestinian state,” Mr. Katz said.
In the opposing camp, Hamas hailed this recognition as an “important step” and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) spoke of “historic moments”. Arab countries also welcomed it.
But in Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip subject to daily Israeli bombings, Ahmed Ziad, 35, denounces “empty shells if America and other European countries […] do not support” such recognition.
Israel’s main supporter, US President Joe Biden, a supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nevertheless said that “a Palestinian state must emerge through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.
“The president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been for his entire career,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in response to the decision to recognize the state. of Palestine taken by the three European countries.
“This is a principled position that we have consistently affirmed,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan then commented. “Each country is free to make its own decisions” in this matter, he also added.
The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said he wanted to work towards “a common position” of the Twenty-Seven, after the recognition of the State of Palestine by two EU member states, Spain and Ireland.
According to a tally by the Palestinian Authority, the State of Palestine is recognized by 142 of the 193 UN member states.
The decision of the three European countries “is certainly not the great victory that it claims to be,” said Inès Abdel Razek, director of the Palestinian Institute for Public Democracy. For her, the two-state solution has fizzled.
Raids in Jabalia and Rafah
In the Gaza Strip, where more than half of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war, Israeli bombings and clashes between the army and Hamas have not stopped.
Airstrikes continued to target Rafah as well as the areas of Jabalia, Zeitoun and Gaza City in the north of the territory.
The army reported “targeted raids against Hamas military sites in Jabalia”, the destruction of numerous weapons, and the death of “eight terrorists in a strike against an arms depot”.
The soldiers continue their ground operations under air cover “against Hamas targets” in areas of Rafah, where the army has said it wants to destroy the last Hamas battalions, its network of tunnels, and save the hostages.
Israeli tanks entered eastern Rafah on May 7 and took control on the Palestinian side of the eponymous crossing point with Egypt, the main entrance for humanitarian aid, before closing it.
Since then, the delivery of aid has virtually stopped, while according to the UN, 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face “catastrophic levels of hunger”.
The army announced the death of three soldiers in Gaza, bringing to 287 the toll of its soldiers killed since the entry of Israeli troops on October 27 into the Palestinian territory.