Journalism of Courage
As Australia, the UK and Canada formally recognised a Palestinian state, France and other countries are expected to follow in the coming days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the establishment of the state “will not happen”, while the United States voiced strong opposition to the step.
But what does this recognition entail?
Palestine exists in a grey area: it has broad international recognition, diplomatic missions abroad, and participates in sporting competitions including the Olympics. Yet it has no internationally agreed borders, no capital, and no army.
The Palestinian Authority, established after 1990s peace agreements, exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Gaza, also under Israeli control, remains in the midst of conflict. Sky News reported that much of the territory envisaged for a Palestinian state has been under Israeli military occupation for more than half a century.
BBC reported that recognition is somewhat symbolic. It represents a strong political and moral statement but does not immediately alter conditions on the ground.
According to BBC, UK’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said at a UN speech in July: “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution,” referencing the 1917 Balfour Declaration’s pledge that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.
Efforts to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, broadly along pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital, have largely stalled. Israel’s colonisation of large parts of the West Bank, illegal under international law, has rendered the two-state concept to largely just theory.
Around 75 per cent of UN member states already recognise Palestine. It holds the status of a permanent observer state at the UN, allowing participation but not voting rights. With the latest recognitions, Palestine will gain support from four of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members, alongside China and Russia, which recognised Palestine in 1988.
The US remains largely opposed.
Sky News reported that under the Montevideo Convention, a state requires:
Some legal advisers have warned that recognising Palestine could technically breach customary international law.
The Trump administration has consistently opposed recognition of Palestinian statehood. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said recognition could embolden Hamas and make a ceasefire in Gaza harder to achieve. Netanyahu argued that recognition would serve as a “launch pad to annihilate Israel”, reported Sky News, and warned that Israel would never relinquish ultimate security control over Gaza or the West Bank.
The two-state solution remains the widely endorsed framework for Palestinian independence, envisioning an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Earlier this month, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of a declaration outlining “tangible, time bound, and irreversible steps” toward a two-state solution, condemning the October 7 attacks by Hamas and Israeli retaliatory strikes. Israel and the US were among 10 countries that opposed the resolution.
One of the key obstacles remains defining borders for a future Palestinian state. Many argue they should correspond to pre-1967 lines, but roughly 6,00,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, according to Sky News, complicating any territorial agreement.
