Closing summary
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza and in Tel Aviv. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
Here is a recap of the latest developments:
Ireland, Spain and Norway announced plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Wednesday, amid warnings from Israel that recognition will ‘fuel extremism and instability’.
Ireland’s prime minister Simon Harris said a two-state solution was the only credible path to peace and security for Israel, Palestine and their peoples. The recognition of statehood has particular resonance in Ireland given its history, Harris added. He also said that Ireland was unequivocal in fully recognising Israel and its right to exist “securely and in peace with its neighbours”, and he called for all hostages in Gaza to be immediately returned.
Harris added that he expected other countries to join Ireland, Spain and Norway in recognising a Palestinian state in the coming weeks: “In the lead up to today’s announcement, I’ve spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts and I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks.”
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said his country would recognise the state of Palestine on 28 May, adding the two-state solution remained the only answer to the crisis in the Middle East.
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Wednesday that the Scandinavian country will officially recognise a Palestinian state as of 28 May. “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition,” Gahr Støre said.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas both welcomed on Wednesday the recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway.
US president Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations, not unilateral recognition, the White House said on Wednesday after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would recognise a Palestinian state this month.
Israel have “instructed for the immediate recall” of Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway for “consultations”. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz shared a post with the news on X on Wednesday, saying that it was “in light of these countries’ decisions to recognise a Palestinian state”. Katz said he was “sending a clear and unequivocal message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent in the face of those undermining its sovereignty and endangering its security”.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan have praised the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise a Palestinian state. “We welcome the decisions taken by friendly European countries today to recognise a Palestinian state,” Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Amman.
France said on Wednesday that recognising a Palestinian state was not “taboo”, but Paris considers that now is not the right moment for it to do so. In a statement to AFP, French foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné, wrote: “Our position is clear: the recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France … France does not consider that the conditions have been present to date for this decision to have a real impact in this process.”
The Israeli military has approved permission for Israelis to return to three former West Bank settlements they had been banned from entering since an evacuation ordered in 2005, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. The three settlements, Sa-nur, Ganim and Kadim, are located near the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus.
Israeli tanks advanced to the edge of a crowded district in the heart of Rafah on Wednesday during one of the most intense nights of bombardment of the southern Gaza city since Israel launched its offensive there this month. Residents and militants told Reuters that tanks had taken up new positions farther west than before along the southern border fence with Egypt. They said Israeli troops were now stationed on the edge of the Yibna neighbourhood at the centre of Rafah.
Heavy battles also rocked Gaza’s northern and central areas where Hamas forces have regrouped, and more Israeli airstrikes have hit Gaza City, Jabalia and Zeitun.
Ten people were killed in the central town of al-Zawaida during the night, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. Additionaly, the Gaza civil defence agency said six bodies were recovered from the rubble of a family house in Jabalia.
The World Health Organization said northern Gaza’s last two functioning hospitals, al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, were besieged by Israeli forces, with more than 200 patients trapped inside.
Palestinian residents said Israeli drones were firing into the Yibna suburb and had opened fire overnight on fishing boats on the beach of Rafah causing some to catch fire. “Tanks made a limited push south-east, still limited but they have advanced under heavy fire all night,” a Palestinian in Rafah told Reuters, asking for his name to be withheld to protect his security.
At least 35,709 Palestinians have been killed and 79,990 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The Hamas-run health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
The Israeli military said it had killed a number of fighters in targeted operations in Khan Younis just north of Rafah, and in the northern Gaza Strip. The military said it had killed a person it identified as Ahmed Yasser Alkara and described as a key Hamas operative, along with two other militants, in a strike in Khan Younis. The statement also said five other militants were killed and had been operating from inside a school.
In the central Gaza Strip town of Zawayda, an Israeli airstrike killed seven people in one house, medics said.
On Gaza’s northern edge in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historical refugee camps, Israeli forces pressed on with a ground offensive that has carried on in parallel with the Rafah assault for two weeks, reported Reuters.
Attacks on medics and health facilities in war zones increased in 2023 to the highest level since records began 11 years ago, a group of non-governmental organisations said on Wednesday. The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition attributed 489 incidents in Gaza last year to Israeli forces, including medic deaths or injuries and strikes or raids on hospitals. No responsibility had been established in seven other cases, including the deaths of six Israeli military medics killed in fighting in separate incidents between October and December, and the bombing of the al-Ahli hospital on 17 October 2023, it said.
Iran’s supreme leader led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday at the funeral of the late president Ebrahim Raisi, as tens of thousands of mourners thronged streets at the funeral in Iran’s capital city, which will move to the cleric’s eastern home city of Mashhad for burial on Thursday.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and the prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani headed to Iran on Wednesday to attend the funeral of late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry also headed to Tehran to participate in the funeral. “Shoukry’s visit is the first visit by the Egyptian foreign minister to Iran,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
More than 40 high-ranking foreign delegations at the levels of head of state, foreign ministers, and heads of parliament were expected to take part at the commemoration ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said. Iran-backed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem joined the funeral in Tehran.
China’s vice premier Zhang Guoqing will attend the memorial service for Raisi, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The Iranian military said on Wednesday that it had used domestically produced drones to locate the helicopter of president Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in the north-western mountains. The Iranian military said that a drone dispatched by Turkey had failed to locate the crash site “despite having night-vison equipment”.
A group of cross-party MPs and peers in the UK have urged the government “to do all it can to support the international criminal court” after the British prime minister Rishi Sunak called the ICC’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders “deeply unhelpful”. In a letter to the foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron, 105 MPs and Lords from 11 parties said the government must take a clear stance against any attempts to intimidate an independent and impartial international court”.
Updated
Palestinian state should be realised through negotiations, White House says
US president Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations, not unilateral recognition, the White House said on Wednesday after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would recognise a Palestinian state this month, reports Reuters.
“The president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said. “He believes a Palestinian state should be realised through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.”
Updated
Reuters has a breaking news line from a White House National Security Council spokesperson saying that US president Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be realised through negotiations not unilateral recognition.
More details soon …
At least 35,709 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, says health ministry
At least 35,709 Palestinians have been killed and 79,990 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Hamas-run health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
My colleagues, Peter Beaumont in London and Sam Jones in Madrid, have put together this explainer on the significance of Spain, Norway and Ireland’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
Israel allows return to three evacuated West Bank settlements
The Israeli military has approved permission for Israelis to return to three former West Bank settlements they had been banned from entering since an evacuation ordered in 2005, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The three settlements, Sa-nur, Ganim and Kadim, are located near the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus, both of which are strongholds of armed militant groups in the northern West Bank, reports Reuters.
According to Reuters, a fourth settlement, Homesh, was cleared for entry last year after parliament passed an amendment to the so-called “disengagement law” of 2005. Permission from the military, which has overall control of the West Bank, was required for any return to the other three former settlements.
The military announced the move on the day three European states said they would formally recognise the State of Palestine. It took the decision despite international pressure on Israel to curb settlement expansion in the West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state alongside Gaza.
“The Jewish hold on Judea and Samaria guarantees security, the application of the law to cancel disengagement will lead to the development of settlement and provide security to residents of the area,” defence minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement, using the biblical names for the West Bank that are often used in Israel.
Reuters said was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority.
Updated
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan have praised the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise a Palestinian state, AFP reports.
The Saudi foreign ministry “expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s welcome of the positive decision taken by the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Ireland to recognise the sisterly State of Palestine,” according to a statement posted on X.
“The kingdom appreciates this decision issued by friendly countries, which affirms the international consensus on the inherent right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and calls on the rest of the countries to quickly make the same decision.”
Jordan hailed the coordinated move as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood”.
“We welcome the decisions taken by friendly European countries today to recognise a Palestinian state,” Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Amman, AFP reports.
“We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the July 1967 borders.”
Here’s a Guardian explainer on the significance of Spain, Norway and Ireland’s announcements.
France said on Wednesday that recognising a Palestinian state was not “taboo”, but Paris considers that now is not the right moment for it to do so, AFP reports.
The comments came after Norway, Ireland and Spain announced they will recognise a Palestinian state from 28 May.
In a statement to AFP, French foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné, wrote:
“Our position is clear: the recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France.
This decision must be useful, that is to say allow a decisive step forward on the political level.
France does not consider that the conditions have been present to date for this decision to have a real impact in this process.
For decades, the formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been seen as the endgame of a peace process between Palestinians and their Israeli neighbours, AFP reports.
The US and most western European nations have said they are willing to one day recognise Palestinian statehood, but not before agreement is reached on thorny issues like final borders and the status of Jerusalem, according to AFP.
Updated
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry headed on Wednesday to Tehran to participate in the funeral of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, reports Reuters citing a foreign ministry statement.
“Shoukry’s visit is the first visit by the Egyptian foreign minister to Iran,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who also died in the crash, had met his Egyptian counterpart earlier this month in the Gambia on the sidelines of a summit for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The two ministers had discussed efforts to promote bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region, especially the ongoing situation in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Reuters also reported that China’s vice premier Zhang Guoqing would attend the memorial service for Raisi, citing a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and the prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani headed to Iran on Wednesday to attend the funeral of late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, Reuters reports citing the emiri diwan, or royal court.
Iran's supreme leader leads prayers at Raisi funeral
Iran’s supreme leader led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday at the funeral of the late president Ebrahim Raisi, reports Reuters.
According to Reuters, state TV showed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leading prayers as tens of thousands of mourners thronged streets at the funeral in Tehran, which will move to the cleric’s eastern home city of Mashhad for burial on Thursday.
Raisi’s coffin, as well as those of foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials who were killed alongside the president in Sunday’s crash near the Azerbaijan border, were passed over the heads of weeping mourners.
Reuters reports that a resident in Tehran said many people had received a text message on their phones, calling on people to “attend the funeral of the martyr of service”.
Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi, who enacted the hardline policies of his mentor Khamenei aimed at entrenching clerical power, cracking down on opponents, and adopting a tough line on foreign policy issues such as nuclear talks with Washington to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact.
More than 40 high-ranking foreign delegations at the levels of head of state, foreign ministers, and heads of parliament will take part at the commemoration ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said.
Iran-backed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem joined the funeral in Tehran.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires today:
Updated
The Israeli military said it had killed a number of fighters in targeted operations in Khan Younis just north of Rafah, and in the northern Gaza Strip where its troops have returned in a major operation in an area where they said they had dismantled Hamas months ago.
According to Reuters, the Israeli military said it had killed a person it identified as Ahmed Yasser Alkara and described as a key Hamas operative, along with two other militants, in a strike in Khan Younis.
“Alkara took part in the 7 October massacre in communities in southern Israel and was a significant anti-tank missile operative who carried out attacks on IDF troops during the war,” said the military statement.
According to Reuters, the statement also said five other militants were killed and had been operating from inside a school.
In the central Gaza Strip town of Zawayda, an Israeli airstrike killed seven people in one house, medics said.
On Gaza’s northern edge in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historical refugee camps, Israeli forces pressed on with a ground offensive that has carried on in parallel with the Rafah assault for two weeks, reports Reuters.
According to the news agency, health officials and residents say entire residential districts have been destroyed and dozens of people killed in the operation, in an area where Israel withdrew its forces after claiming to have “dismantled” Hamas in January.
Israel says it has had to return to prevent Hamas from re-establishing there.
Israeli forces move deeper into Rafah – reports
Israeli tanks advanced to the edge of a crowded district in the heart of Rafah on Wednesday during one of the most intense nights of bombardment of the southern Gaza city since Israel launched its offensive there this month, reports Reuters.
Israel’s troops have been slowly moving into the eastern outskirts of Rafah since the start of the month, but according to Reuters, residents and militants said tanks had taken up new positions on Wednesday farther west than before along the southern border fence with Egypt.
They said Israeli troops were now stationed on the edge of the Yibna neighbourhood at the centre of Rafah.
Hamas’s armed wing said it had struck two armoured troop carriers at a gate along the border fence with anti-tank rockets.
According to Reuters, Palestinian residents said Israeli drones were firing into the Yibna suburb and had opened fire overnight on fishing boats on the beach of Rafah causing some to catch fire.
“There has been no stopping of Israeli fire all night, from drones, helicopters, warplanes, and tanks,” a Palestinian in Rafah told Reuters, asking for his name to be withheld to protect his security.
“Tanks made a limited push south-east, still limited but they have advanced under heavy fire all night,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Reuters said there was no immediate word from the Israeli military on Rafah.
Updated
Ireland, Spain and Norway have announced plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Wednesday, amid warnings from Israel that recognition will ‘fuel extremism and instability’.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said his country would recognise the state of Palestine on 28 May, adding the two-state solution remained the only answer to the crisis in the Middle East.
The Guardian video team have produced a video showing the announcements this morning from each of the prime ministers of Ireland, Spain and Norway.
Heavy fighting has raged around Gaza’s far southern city of Rafah, the last part of Gaza to face a ground invasion, where an Agence France-Presse (AFP) team reported more air and artillery strikes early on Wednesday.
AFP reports that heavy battles have also rocked Gaza’s northern and central areas where Hamas forces have regrouped, and more Israeli airstrikes have hit Gaza City, Jabalia and Zeitun.
Ten people were killed in the central town of al-Zawaida during the night, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. Additionaly, the Gaza civil defence agency said six bodies were recovered from the rubble of a family house in Jabalia.
According to AFP, the World Health Organization has said northern Gaza’s last two functioning hospitals, al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, were besieged by Israeli forces, with more than 200 patients trapped inside.
Palestinian Authority and Hamas both welcome recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas both welcomed on Wednesday the recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway, reports Reuters.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank territory while Hamas runs Gaza.
The Iranian military said on Wednesday that it had used domestically produced drones to locate the helicopter of president Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in the north-western mountains, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Raisi’s helicopter came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside on Sunday as it returned to the city of Tabriz from a ceremony on the border with Azerbaijan.
A huge search and rescue operation was launched, involving help from the EU, Russia and Turkey before the crash site was located early on Monday.
According to AFP, the Iranian military said that a drone dispatched by Turkey had failed to locate the crash site “despite having night-vison equipment”.
“This drone failed to accurately announce the location of the helicopter crash and finally returned to Turkey,” the military said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency. “Finally, in the early hours of Monday morning, the exact spot of the helicopter crash was discovered by the ground rescue forces and Iranian drones of the armed forces.”
Armed forces chief Mohammad Bagheri has ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash, which also killed seven members of Raisi’s entourage, including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Updated
Attacks on medics and health facilities in war zones increased in 2023 to the highest level since records began 11 years ago, a group of non-governmental organisations said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, composed of 40 groups including medical charities, reported 2,562 incidents of violence or obstructions including arrests, killings and kidnappings of doctors and strikes across hospitals in 30 conflicts including Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
That is up by about a quarter compared with 2022, reports Reuters.
Unlike the World Health Organization which also documents attacks on healthcare, the group apportions responsibility and said governments were to blame for nearly half of the attacks.
Len Rubenstein, chair of the coalition and a Johns Hopkins University professor, called for “far more assertive action to end the scourge of violence against health care,” asking governments to cease arms transfers to perpetrators and press prosecutors to hold them accountable.
The group uses open source data and partner contributions and cross checks to ensure no double counting.
According to Reuters, the coalition attributed 489 incidents in Gaza last year to Israeli forces, including medic deaths or injuries and strikes or raids on hospitals. No responsibility had been established in seven other cases, including the deaths of six Israeli military medics killed in fighting in separate incidents between October and December, and the bombing of the al-Ahli hospital on 17 October 2023, it said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating in hospitals and using medical infrastructure as a shield, which Hamas denies.
Ireland, Spain and Norway will each formally enact recognition of a Palestinian state on 28 May
Ireland’s recognition of a Palestine state will be formally enacted on 28 May, foreign minister Micheál Martin said on X.
This is the same date as for Spain and Norway, who also confirmed today their intentions to officially recognise a Palestinian state.
Today, the Government announces it will formally recognise the State of Palestine on May 28th.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 22, 2024
Today, we state clearly our unambiguous support for the equal right to security, dignity, and self-determination for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. pic.twitter.com/uGoymhg5VD
Updated
Reuters has some more quotes from the Irish prime minister Simon Harris from the press conference earlier.
According to the news agency, Harris said a two-state solution was the only credible path to peace and security for Israel, Palestine and their peoples. The recognition of statehood has particular resonance in Ireland given its history, Harris added.
“Taking our place on the world stage and being recognised by others as having the right to be there was a matter of the highest importance for the founders of our state,” he said.
He said that Ireland was unequivocal in fully recognising Israel and its right to exist “securely and in peace with its neighbours”, and he called for all hostages in Gaza to be immediately returned.
“In the lead up to today’s announcement, I’ve spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts and I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks,” he added.
Two-state solution is the only 'just and sustainable solution to this terrible conflict', says Spanish PM
Sam Jones is Madrid correspondent for the Guardian.
Speaking to MPs in congress on Wednesday, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez announced that his socialist-led coalition government would recognise the state of Palestine on 28 May.
He said his government rejected what he termed “the massacre in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories” and reiterated its demands for a ceasefire and the implementation of the two-state solution.
But he also said the time had come for concrete action.
“Prime minister Netanyahu is still turning a blind eye and bombing hospitals, schools, homes,” said Sánchez. “He is still using hunger, cold and terror to punish more than a million innocent boys and girls – and things have gone so far that prosecutors at the international criminal court have this week sought his arrest for war crimes.”
The Spanish prime minister said that he was in no doubt whatsoever that Netanyahu had “no peace plan for Palestine”, adding that he was causing so much pain, destruction and bitterness in Gaza and the rest of Palestine that the two-state solution was now in serious danger.
“Those countries that defend human rights and rule-based international law are obliged to act – in Ukraine and in Palestine – without double standards,” said Sánchez.
He said:
We’re obliged to do what we can: sending humanitarian aid, as we are; helping refugees and displaced people, as we are.
But we also have to use all the political resources at our disposal to say, loud and clear, that we’re not going to allow the possibility of the two-state solution to be destroyed by force because it’s the only just and sustainable solution to this terrible conflict.
And that is why I wish to inform you that after discussing the decision with the two parties that make up this progressive coalition government – and in keeping with the feelings of the majority of the Spanish people – Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state on Tuesday 28 May.”
His words were met with huge applause in Spain’s lower chamber.
Updated
Aletha Adu is a political correspondent for the Guardian.
A group of cross-party MPs and peers in the UK have urged the government “to do all it can to support the international criminal court” after the British prime minister Rishi Sunak called the ICC’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders “deeply unhelpful”.
In a letter to the foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron, 105 MPs and Lords from 11 parties said the government must take a clear stance against any attempts to intimidate an independent and impartial international court”, adding “the court, its prosecutor, and all its staff must be free to pursue justice without fear or favour”.
The chief prosecutor of the ICC has said he will apply for arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
Labour MPs Richard Burgon and Imran Hussain who organised the letter said “there is mounting evidence that Israel has committed clear and obvious violations of international law in Gaza and we strongly believe that those responsible must be held to account”.
Irish prime minister Simon Harris said on Wednesday that he expected other countries to join Ireland, Spain and Norway in recognising a Palestinian state in the coming weeks.
“Today, Ireland, Norway, and Spain are announcing that we recognise the state of Palestine,” Harris said at a press conference, reports Reuters.
“Each of us will now undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision,” he said. “I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks.”
Updated
Spain will recognise a Palestinian state, confirms PM
Spain will recognise a Palestinian state from 28 May, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has announced.
More details soon …
Israel announces 'immediate recall' of its ambassadors to Ireland and Norway
Israel have “instructed for the immediate recall” of Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz shared a post with the news on X. It said:
I have instructed the immediate recall of Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway for consultations in light of these countries’ decisions to recognise a Palestinian state.
I’m sending a clear and unequivocal message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent in the face of those undermining its sovereignty and endangering its security.
Today’s decision sends a message to the Palestinians and the world: Terrorism pays. After the Hamas terror organisation carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, after committing heinous sexual crimes witnessed by the world, these countries chose to reward Hamas and Iran by recognizing a Palestinian state.
This distorted step by these countries is an injustice to the memory of the victims of 7/10, a blow to efforts to return the 128 hostages, and a boost to Hamas and Iran’s jihadists, which undermines the chance for peace and questions Israel’s right to self-defence.
Israel will not remain silent – there will be further severe consequences. If Spain follows through on its intention to recognise a Palestinian state, a similar step will be taken against it.
The Irish-Norwegian folly does not deter us; we are determined to achieve our goals: restoring security to our citizens, dismantling Hamas, and bringing the hostages home. There are no more just causes than these.”
I have instructed the immediate recall of Israel’s ambassadors to Ireland and Norway for consultations in light of these countries' decisions to recognize a Palestinian state.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) May 22, 2024
I’m sending a clear and unequivocal message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent in the…
Ireland to recognise a Palestinian state, confirms PM
Ireland’s taoiseach Simon Harris has confirmed that Ireland will recognise a Palestinian state. He is speaking at a press conference now.
There is a live stream of the Irish prime minister’s press conference this morning, via the video at the top of this page (you may need to refresh the page to see it). It is expected to start soon.
Updated
'There cannot be peace in Middle East' without a Palestinian state, says Norwegian PM
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Wednesday: “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
Gahr Støre said the Scandinavian country will officially recognise a Palestinian state as of 28 May, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Several EU countries have in the past weeks indicated that they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
According to the AP, Norway – which is not a member of the EU but mirror its moves – has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution and the state of Israel,” Gahr Støre said. “Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state,” he told a press conference, reports the AP.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore regard Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails,” Gahr Støre said.
Norway’s recognition of a Palestine state comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993. Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
It said that the World Bank determined that Palestine had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said, according to the AP.
Updated
For context, Sweden officially recognised the state of Palestine in 2014 becoming the first EU member in western Europe to recognise a Palestinian state.
Other EU member states that have already recognised a Palestinian state, but which took the step before joining the EU, are Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Romania.
Norway will recognise a Palestinian state, prime minister confirms
Norway will recognise a Palestinian state, prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Wednesday, writes Reuters, confirming earlier reports.
More details soon …
Ireland, Spain and Norway expected to make announcement on recognition of Palestinian state
Ireland, Spain and Norway are expected to announce plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Wednesday, according to multiple reports, amid warnings from Israel that recognition will “fuel extremism and instability”.
The three Irish government leaders – premier Simon Harris, deputy premier Micheál Martin and minister Eamon Ryan – are due to hold a press conference on Wednesday morning. They had earlier signalled the government would make the move to recognise Palestinian statehood by the end of May.
National public broadcaster RTÉ and the Irish Times both reported it was understood the decision to do so would be announced at the news conference.
The Guardian understands that Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, will also reveal a date for formal recognition on Wednesday, after announcing his intention last week to do so.
Sánchez has been one of the most outspoken European leaders when it comes to criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. He has also repeatedly said that the two-state solution remains the only answer to the crisis in the Middle East.
Norway’s public broadcaster and the daily Aftenposten meanwhile reported, citing unnamed sources, that the government would announce on Wednesday that the Nordic country recognises an independent Palestinian state.
Opening summary
It has gone 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Ireland, Spain and Norway are reportedly to announce a date for the formal recognition of a Palestinian state on Wednesday, according to reports from all three countries.
The three nations have been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s campaign in Gaza and have been holding negotiations with other European states about making a joint declaration on recognition of Palestine.
The Israeli foreign ministry pre-empted a potential announcement, releasing a video claiming that recognition of a Palestinian state would “lead to more terrorism, instability in the region and jeopardize any prospects for peace”.
“Don’t be a pawn in the hands of Hamas,” it warned.
More on that in a moment. Here is a summary of the latest developments:
The UN has suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israel launched an intensified assault earlier this month, due to lack of supplies and insecurity. It also said no aid trucks have entered the territory in the past two days via a floating pier set up by the US for sea deliveries, and warned that the $320m (£250m) project may fail unless Israel starts providing the conditions humanitarian groups need to operate safely.
Fighting raged around the far southern city of Rafah, the last area to face a ground invasion, on Tuesday but fierce combat was also reported again in the northern Jabalia area where Hamas forces have regrouped. The World Health Organization said northern Gaza’s last two functioning hospitals, al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, were besieged by Israeli forces, with more than 200 patients trapped inside both.
Israeli missiles struck the emergency department of Kamal Adwan hospital, medics said, prompting panicked medical staff to rush patients on hospital beds and stretchers to the rubble-strewn street outside. “The first missile when it hit, it hit the entrance of the emergency department. We tried to enter, and then a second missile hit, and the third hit the building nearby,” Hussam Abu Safia, the head of the hospital, told Reuters.
The health ministry in Gaza said that 35,647 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s military action since 7 October, with 79,852 wounded. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Israel urged what it called “nations of the civilised world” to refuse to implement any international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrants issued against its leaders. “We call on the nations of the civilised, free world – nations who despise terrorists and anyone who supports them – to stand by Israel. You should outright condemn this step,” government spokesperson, Tal Heinrich, said.
The Biden administration is willing to work with Congress to potentially impose sanctions against ICC officials over the prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the Gaza war, Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, said. Joe Biden as well as his political opponents have sharply criticised the ICC announcement, arguing the court does not have jurisdiction over the Gaza conflict and raising concerns over process.
The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives said on Tuesday he was close to inviting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address lawmakers even if the Senate’s Democratic leader did not go along. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol he had given Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer until Tuesday to sign a letter inviting Netanyahu to address a joint meeting.
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said the court’s move was an “attempt to deny the state of Israel the right to defend itself”. Gallant said the “prosecutor’s parallel between the terrorist organization Hamas and the state of Israel is despicable and disgusting.”
Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to the Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, before reversing course in the face of widespread condemnation from media groups and criticism from its closest ally, the US. Officials had accused the US-based wire service, which has subscribers around the globe, of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera, which it has banned from the country.
Individual members of Israel’s security forces are tipping off far-right activists and settlers to the location of aid trucks delivering vital supplies to Gaza, enabling the groups to block and vandalise the convoys, according to multiple sources. Settlers intercepting the vital humanitarian supplies to the strip are receiving information about the location of the aid trucks from members of the Israeli police and military, a spokesperson from the main Israeli activist group behind the blockades told the Guardian.
The British government is preparing to publish a summary of its legal advice stating there are no clear risks that selling arms to Israel will lead to a serious breach of international humanitarian law (IHL). The government has so far rigidly insisted it will not publish any legal advice or any summary but on Tuesday the deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said he would “look to see what more detail we could offer” due to the “strength of feeling in the IHL assessment process”.
A surgeon, a teacher and a schoolchild riding a bicycle were among eight Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid on the West Bank refugee camp in Jenin on Tuesday, while 20 others were wounded including photojournalist Amr Manasra, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the raid in a statement on Wafa, saying Israel was “killing innocent people, doctors, and destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian hospitals, cities and villages”.
The Israeli military, which said it was carrying out a “counter-terrorism operation”, also bulldozed and destroyed infrastructure near Jenin governmental hospital, Wafa reported. At least 513 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war broke out, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel has addressed many of Biden’s concerns over its long-simmering plan to carry out a widescale military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas, a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday. The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said that in talks over the weekend with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Israeli officials incorporated many changes into their planning that seem to meet concerns about deepening an operation in an area that has been flooded with Palestinian refugees during the seven-month war.
The US and Saudi Arabia have reached a near final set of arrangements for a bilateral defence pact that includes a security component and a civil nuclear component, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. The official said the deal was “more or less complete,” but cautioned that certain elements, including a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood and steps on stabilising Gaza, still needed to be completed.
Updated
