Spain officially recognizes Palestinian state

In a major development, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has officially recognized a Palestinian state during the Spanish Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.

The move has widened European Union rift with Israel.

Ireland and Norway are also set to make their recognition of a Palestinian state official later in the day.

“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” said Sanchez in Madrid.

Moreover, EU members including Ireland and Spain insisted that the EU should take action against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.

Norway, which is not an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Spain that its consulate in Jerusalem will not be allowed to help Palestinians.

Sanchez also laid out his vision for a state ruled by the Palestinian National Authority that must connect the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem through a corridor.

“We will not recognize changes in the 1967 border lines other than those agreed to by the parties,” Sanchez added.

Tuesday’s move by Spain means 143 of the UN’s 193 member states now recognise Palestinian statehood.

These include many Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries, but not the United States, Canada, most of western Europe, Australia, Japan or South Korea.

In 2014, Sweden became the first EU member to recognise a Palestinian state, following six other European countries that took the step before joining the bloc: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.