Norway handed over recognition documents to the Palestinian prime minister on Sunday in the latest step towards official recognition of a Palestinian state, in a largely symbolic move that has angered Israel.
The document states that the recognition will enter into force on May 28, 2024.
Last Wednesday, Ireland and Spain made a joint pledge with Norway to recognize a Palestinian state, a historic move that has increased Israel's isolation more than seven months after the start of the war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military's operations in Gaza followed a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1200 people and took 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, over 35 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip. Officials of this ministry do not distinguish between civilian victims and militants in their figures.
The delivery of recognition documents by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to the Palestinian Prime Minister took place in Brussels, where Mohammad Mustafa also met with the foreign ministers of the European Union countries and senior EU officials to deepen the support of theirs for the Palestinians.
Norway is not a member of the EU.
The diplomatic move by the three countries was a welcome boost of support for Palestinian officials, who have for decades sought the creation of a state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the Middle East war last year. 1967 and still controls them.
Some 140 countries, more than two-thirds of all UN member states, recognize the Palestinian state, but most of the 27 EU countries still do not. Several EU countries have said they would recognize a Palestinian state at an appropriate time.
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Macron: France will help Palestinians draft constitution for future state
The European Union, the United States and Britain support the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which would exist alongside Israel, but say it must be achieved through a negotiated settlement.
The submission of the recognition documents on Sunday came just two days after the International Criminal Court ordered Israel to immediately end its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in the latest move to increase pressure on the increasingly isolated country. /VOA
