“A reward for terror”: Israel fumes after EU recognizes Palestinian state

Amid fighting between its army and Palestinian Hamas in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, Israel on Wednesday let its anger boil over the decision by three European countries to recognize Palestine.

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The creation of a viable Palestinian state seems a very uncertain prospect because of Israel’s refusal to listen to it and Jewish colonization that dismembers the territories in which the Palestinians want to establish it.

But the recognition, announced by Spain, Ireland and Norway, is seen as an important diplomatic victory for Palestinian leaders in their bid to end 57 years of Israeli occupation.

It is a fresh setback for Israel after International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, in the wake of the war, sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “crimes against humanity” and at the same time. Hamas leaders.

Recognizing that “Israel will not be silent on this question,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced the summons of the ambassadors of Spain, Ireland, and Norway, recalling its ambassadors in these three countries for consultation.

“Rewarding Terrorism”

Recognizing a Palestinian state would be a “reward for terrorism,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a staunch opponent of the idea of ​​such a state co-existing with Israel. “This evil cannot be given a state,” he said.

The three European countries announced their decision on October 7, 2023, as war erupted between Israel and Hamas after an unprecedented offensive by Palestinian Islamist movement commandos into southern Israel from the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The attack killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 252 hostages taken on October 7, 124 were still being held in Gaza, the military said, of which 37 had been killed.

In response, Mr. Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas, and in 2007 Hamas launched a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States.

At least 35,709 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died, including 62 in the past 24 hours, according to data released Wednesday from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Palestinian Regional Government.

The families of five Israeli soldiers held hostage in Gaza on Wednesday allowed the release of photos showing the moment they were captured during the Oct. 7 attack. We can see these young women, some with bloodied faces, sitting on the floor in their pajamas with their hands tied behind their backs.

“Blank Shells”

“These countries chose to reward Hamas after the terrorist organization Hamas carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and committed some of the worst sex crimes the world has ever known. […] And recognize the State of Palestine,” said Mr. Katz said.

In the opposition camp, Hamas welcomed the announcement by the three European countries as an “important step”, and in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) they spoke of “historic moments”.

Arab countries welcomed the recognition, with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Caid calling on all states to “follow the example of the three countries in their bold approach”.

But in Rafah, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip that comes under daily Israeli bombardment, Ahmed Ziyad, 35, denounced the “empty shells if the US and other European countries”. […] Do not endorse” such endorsement.

US President Joe Biden, a key supporter of Israel, supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, saying “a Palestinian state must be formed through direct negotiations between the parties. [et] Not through unilateral recognition.”

According to the Palestinian Authority’s count, the State of Palestine is recognized by 142 of the 193 UN member states.

Raids in Jabaliya and Rafah

Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip and ongoing fighting between Palestinian soldiers and armed groups.

On Wednesday, witnesses said airstrikes targeted parts of the region north of Rafah and Jabaliya, Zaytoun and Gaza City.

The army said in a press release that it had “targeted raids against Hamas military bases in Jabaliya” and destroyed or captured a large number of weapons, including “rockets, explosive belts, grenades and ammunition”.

Israeli forces are also continuing their ground operations in the Rafah areas, where the army has said it wants to destroy the last Hamas battalions and its tunnel network and rescue hostages.

“Disastrous Hunger Levels”

Before its tanks entered eastern Rafah on May 7 and took over the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, the army ordered the mass evacuation of towns that had displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Since the closure of the Rafah crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid, supplies of essential fuel, especially fuel, to hospitals and humanitarian logistics have come to a near standstill.

According to the UN, the 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face “catastrophic conditions”.

UN responsible for Palestinian refugees The agency, UNRWA, suspended its food deliveries in Rafah “due to supply shortages and insecurity”.