����vlog

In a watershed moment for the decadeslong push for Palestinian statehood, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia all officially recognized a Palestinian state Sunday.All three had announced plans to do so over the past few months. The official moves come after a United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, issuing a report that calls on the international community to end the genocide and take steps to punish those responsible for it.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed the UK’s announcement that it is recognizing a Palestinian state.Abbas said the recognition was “an important and necessary step towards achieving a just and lasting peace” and would pave the way for the implementation of a two-state solution, allowing Palestine to live side by side with Israel in “security, peace, and good neighborliness.”Abbas said the immediate priority was a ceasefire in Gaza, “the entry of aid, the release of all hostages and prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed Sunday that the U.K. is formally recognizing a Palestinian state despite vocal opposition from the U.S. and Israel. Starmer said the move is intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.”Though the move is largely symbolic, it is a historic moment as the U.K. arguably laid the groundwork for the creation of the Israeli state when it was in control of what was then known as Palestine in 1917.The announcement was widely anticipated after Starmer said in July that the U.K. would recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, allowed the U.N. to bring in aid and took other steps toward long-term peace.Starmer has insisted that Hamas will have no role in the future of the governance of the Palestinian people and must release the Israeli hostages it still holds from the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.The Palestinian head of mission in the U.K., Husam Zomlot, told the BBC that recognition would right a colonial-era wrong.“The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago, in 1917,” he said. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected, when wrongs are being righted, when recognition of the wrongs of the past are beginning to be corrected."The U.K. is not alone in recognizing a Palestinian state. More than 140 countries have already taken that step, and more are expected to do so at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including France.In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on the social platform X that Canada had recognized a Palestinian state. In July, when he first announced the plan, Carney said, "The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable."Australia previewed its own move in August, but it became official Sunday in a joint statement by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong."Australia recognises the legitimate and long-held aspirations of the people of Palestine to a state of their own," the pair said."Today's act of recognition reflects Australia's longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian people."Palestinians have welcomed international support for their decades-long quest for statehood but say there are more urgent measures Western countries could take if they wanted to pressure Israel.“It’s a bit odd that the response to daily atrocities in Gaza, including what is by all accounts deliberate starvation, is to recognize a theoretical Palestinian state that may never actually come into being,” said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, told The Associated Press last month.“It looks more like a way for these countries to appear to be doing something,” he said.Fathi Nimer, a policy fellow at Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka, told the AP these nations could have suspended trade agreements with Israel or imposed arms embargoes or other sanctions. “There is a wide tool set at the disposal of these countries, but there is no political will to use it,” he said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused foreign leaders of giving a “prize” to Hamas.“It will not happen,” he said. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”Netanyahu said he would announce Israel’s response after a trip next week to the U.S., where he is to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.The U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state comes days after a state visit from U.S. President Donald Trump, during which he voiced his disapproval of the plan. "“I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score. One of our few disagreements,” he said."The U.S. recently rejected yet another resolution in the U.N. Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.When France announced it would recognize Palestine, U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner wrote a letter arguing that “gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence and endanger Jewish life in France.” Meanwhile, Canada's announcement in July also provoked criticism from US President Donald Trump, who promptly suggested that the move would hurt Canada in any trade talks with the United States.Critics, including the U.S. and the Israeli government, which has long taken actions to impede the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, have condemned the plans, saying they reward Hamas for its attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Other critics argue that it's an empty gesture given that the Palestinian people are divided into two territories — the West Bank and Gaza — with no recognized international capital.Hopes for an independent Palestinian state, despite increasing international recognition, face steep challenges. Gaza, one of the two split Palestinian territories, has been largely destroyed by two years of war with Israel, with most of its population displaced and much of it experiencing famine. Meanwhile, Israel’s government is aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank. Much of the world, including the International Court of Justice, regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which is ostensibly run by the Palestinian Authority, as illegal.The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.