Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced they will recognise a Palestinian state, a historic but largely symbolic move that further deepens Israel's isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel immediately denounced the decisons and recalled its ambassadors to the three countries.
Palestinians welcomed the announcements as an affirmation of their decades-long quest for statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and still controls.
While some 140 countries — more than two-thirds of the United Nations — recognise a Palestinian state, Wednesday's cascade of announcements could build momentum at a time when even close allies of Israel have piled on criticism for its conduct in Gaza.
It was the second blow to Israel's international reputation this week after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he would seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, along with Hamas leaders. The ICC is also seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders and considering allegations of genocide that Israel has strenuously denied.
Israel slams countries' decisions
Israel recalled its ambassadors to the three countries and summoned their envoys, accusing the Europeans of rewarding the militant Hamas group for its October 7 attack that triggered the war.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the European ambassadors would watch grisly video footage of the attack.
In that assault, Hamas-led militants stormed across the border, killing 1200 people and taking some 250 hostage.
Israel's ensuing offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
"History will remember that Spain, Norway, and Ireland decided to award a gold medal to Hamas murderers and rapists," Katz said.
In response to the announcements in Europe, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir paid a provocative visit Wednesday to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound — a flashpoint in Jerusalem that is sacred to Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. The move could escalate tensions across the region.
"We will not even allow a statement about a Palestinian state," he said.
Netanyahu's government opposes Palestinian statehood and says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations, which last collapsed over 15 years ago.
The international community has long viewed the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict, and in past weeks several European Union countries have indicated they plan to recognise a Palestinian state to further those efforts.
In contrast, the United States and Britain, among others, have backed the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but say it should come as part of a negotiated settlement.
Penny Wong says Australia 'prepared to look to recognition'
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong last month began suggesting the country should recognise a Palestinian state.
In an interview overnight, she reiterated Australia's support for a two-state solution and again called for a humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages.
"As you know, we voted for a resolution in the United Nations which gave Palestine additional rights and supported the principle of two states, which is so important," Wong said.
"I've also said Australia ... has a position where we will be considered prepared to look to recognition as part of a pre-peace process.
"Our test must always be, is our action going to contribute to the cause of peace."
She wouldn't be drawn on whether the three countries' actions helped pave that path towards peace.
Rapid-fire series of announcements
The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland — which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state — is planned for May 28.
Their announcements came in swift succession. Norway, which helped broker the Oslo accords that kicked off the peace process in the 1990s, was the first to announce its decision.
"There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.
The country plans to upgrade its representative office in the West Bank to an embassy.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called it an "historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine," saying the announcements had been coordinated and that other countries might join.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who announced his country's decision before parliament, has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for recognition and a ceasefire in Gaza.
"This recognition is not against anyone, it is not against the Israeli people," Sánchez said.
"It is an act in favour of peace, justice and moral consistency."
Palestinian Authority welcomes pledges
President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, welcomed the decisions and called on other nations to "recognise our legitimate rights and support the struggle of our people for liberation and independence".
Hamas, which Western countries and Israel view as a terrorist group, does not recognise Israel's existence but has indicated it might agree to a state on the 1967 lines, at least on an interim basis.
Israel says any Palestinian state would be at risk of being taken over by Hamas, posing a threat to its security.
The announcements are unlikely to have any impact on the war in Gaza — or the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Police arrest protesters outside Met Gala
Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers it part of its capital, and in the occupied West Bank it has built scores of Jewish settlements that are now home to more than 500,000 Israelis. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule.
Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain security control of Gaza even after any defeat of Hamas, and the war is still raging there. An Israeli airstrike early on Wednesday killed 10 people, including four women and four children, who had been displaced and were sheltering in central Gaza, according to hospital authorities.
Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said "recognition is a tangible step towards a viable political track leading to Palestinian self-determination".
But in order for it to have an impact, he said, it must come with "tangible steps to counter Israel's annexation and settlement of Palestinian territory – such as banning settlement products and financial services".
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide defended the importance of the move in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that while the country has supported the establishment of a Palestinian state for decades, it knew that recognition is "a card that you can play once".
"We used to think that recognition would come at the end of a process," he said.
"Now we have realised that recognition should come as an impetus, as a strengthening of a process."
The move comes less than two weeks after 143 nations, including Australia, voted in favour to pass a UN General Assembly resolution to extend some of Palestine's rights to participate in United Nations forums.
Australia does not formally recognise Palestine as a state but supports a two-state solution.
