Spain to announce Palestinian state recognition date

Madrid: Along with a number of other EU allies, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will declare on Wednesday the day that Madrid will acknowledge a Palestinian state.

"We are in the process of coordinating with other countries so that we can make a joint declaration," Sanchez said Friday in an interview with private Spanish television station La Sexta when asked if this step would be taken Tuesday as announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"I think on the 22nd of May...I shall be able to clarify before parliament the date on which Spain will recognise the Palestinian state," he added.

Asserting that a two-state solution is necessary for lasting peace, Sanchez stated in March that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta had decided to recognise a Palestinian state in addition to Israel, AFP reported.

Last week, Borrell stated on Spanish public radio that May 21 will mark the symbolic recognition of a Palestinian state by Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia. He claimed to have received this date from Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

Dublin would undoubtedly recognise Palestinian statehood by the end of the month, according to Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, but the "specific date is still fluid.”

Plans for Palestinian recognition have been described by Israel as a "prize for terrorism" that would lessen the likelihood of a diplomatic settlement to the Gaza crisis, which started on October 7 when Hamas militants broke into southern Israel. Over 1,170 people died as a result of the strike, the majority of them were civilians, according to an AFP count of official Israeli numbers.

With the intention of destroying Hamas, Israel initiated a brutal assault that has killed over 35,000 people (although the number may be higher), the majority of them were women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.

The official acknowledgement of a Palestinian state has long been viewed as the culmination of efforts to bring about peace between the Palestinian people and their Israeli neighbours.

The majority of Western European countries and the United States have stated that they are willing to recognise Palestinian statehood in the future, but only after difficult issues like Jerusalem's status and final borders have been resolved.

However, in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attacks and Israel's savage response during months of attacks on Gaza, diplomats are now reevaluating once-controversial concepts.

The first EU member in Western Europe to acknowledge a Palestinian state was Sweden, which has a sizable Palestinian community. This recognition occurred in 2014. Previously, six other European nations—Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania—had recognised the existence of a state called Palestine.