Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that Australia will formally recognize the State of Palestine at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, which convenes next month in New York. Australia becomes the latest Western power to commit to recognizing Palestine — following France, the United Kingdom and Canada — over the objections of the United States.
The decision comes at a critical moment for Israel’s war against Hamas, as a mass starvation crisis looms over Gaza, Arab powers increase pressure on Hamas to surrender and the Israel Defense Forces prepare to re-enter and occupy Gaza City.
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“Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,” Albanese said at a news conference, according to CNN.
‘A test of our shared humanity’
The growing recognition of an independent Palestinian state by Western powers is part of a concerted global effort to pressure Israel and Hamas to end the war or at least agree to a humanitarian ceasefire. Aid organizations hope to rush emergency food rations into Gaza amid an urgent mass starvation crisis, an effort the United Nations called “a test of our shared humanity.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry says around 200 Gazans have died of starvation during the Israeli siege, and that more than 60,000 Gazans — including both civilians and combatants — have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas.
Western allies — with the exception of the United States — are pushing Israel to allow emergency aid into Gaza and to commit to at least a humanitarian ceasefire. At the same time, Arab powers have been dialing up the pressure on Hamas to concede to some of Israel’s key demands for a permanent negotiated end to the war.
Israel, Hamas resist a global push for peace
At a United Nations conference in New York co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on July 29, dozens of countries signed on to a call for Hamas to disarm and surrender power as part of a negotiated two-state solution recognizing both Israel and Palestine. The signatories included the Arab League, the European Union and an additional 22 nations.
The statement threw support behind the Palestinian Authority as an alternative government to replace Hamas. It also presented the option of deploying a U.N. peacekeeping force to stabilize the region, pending the Palestinian Authority’s approval.
Several countries present at the conference, including Arab states, offered to provide peacekeeping troops, marking a historic effort to build up global momentum for a negotiated settlement.
Hamas, however, has given no indication that it might consider disarming and surrendering power over Gaza, despite mounting international pressure.
Israel, meanwhile, has escalated its bombing campaign and is moving ahead with plans to deploy ground forces into Gaza City, despite large anti-war protests across the country.
