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Palestinian FM calls for more countries to recognize statehood

Sunday, 21 September 2025 11:07 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 September 2025 11:07 AM ]

Palestinians hold the Palestinian flag during a protest over tensions at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied East al-Quds, at Huwara checkpoint, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Photo by Reuters)

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, has expressed her appreciation to those countries that have already recognized the Palestinian state or are preparing to do so, encouraging additional nations to take similar action.

“A number of states are going to declare their recognition,” she said at a news conference in the Israeli-occupied central West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday. “It will be a very important message. Above all, it is a message of hope to the Palestinian people, a message of hope for a free, independent, sovereign state.”

The top diplomat said the recognition of Palestinian statehood would mean that “Israel has no sovereignty on the territories of our state.”

She urged nations that were “reluctant” to recognize Palestinian statehood to align with those that were prepared to do so, assuring that the “voice of the Palestinian people will be loud and clear within the walls of the United Nations” during a meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week.

“The whole world stands united behind the Palestinian cause,” Aghabekian said. “The Israeli occupation is the root of all evils within the region.”

Portugal to join countries officially recognizing Palestinian state

Portugal joins the countries planning to officially recognize a Palestinian state next week.

In the spring of 2024, several European and Caribbean nations, including Barbados, Ireland, Jamaica, Norway, and Spain, formally recognized the Palestinian state.

At the time, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to listen to the world and stop the humanitarian catastrophe we are seeing in Gaza.”

Most recently, Australia, Belgium, Canada, and France have announced plans to recognize the State of Palestine.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has conditionally said it will recognize the Palestinian state if Israel does not meet criteria that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump has blasted the calls for recognition.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host a meeting on Palestinian recognition during the UNGA on September 22 in New York.

As of April this year, some 147 countries, representing 75 percent of UN members, had already recognized Palestinian statehood.

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