Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that his country is set to recognise a Palestinian state in September.
Albanese said Australia will recognise the state at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, a move that adds further pressure on Israel.
Albanese told reporters in Canberra that Australia will recognise the state based on several commitments received from the Palestinian Authority, including that Hamas would have no future involvement in the state’s affairs.
There have been reports that Middle Eastern nations have finally swung into action against Israel’s reluctance to end the conflict, as well as recent plans to annexe more Palestinian territory.
Albanese said, “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the region and to bring a long-lasting solution, alleviating the suffering and starvation crisis in Gaza.”
He said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day before the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan to reoccupy Gaza City.
The move is seen as another setback for Israel, which is continuously losing allies and supporters due to its ongoing policies in Gaza.
The decision is widely viewed as a direct result of Netanyahu’s reluctance to heed the international community’s continuous calls to comply with legal and ethical obligations in Gaza.
Failure to act on the advice of the international community would further alienate Israel. Besides the United States, Israel has lost a significant portion of its international backers, especially among the permanent members of the UNSC.
In a joint press conference on Monday, Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “The Netanyahu government is extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state.”
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