Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward, using a vehicle packed with personal belongings, after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip, September 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week were taking an irreversible step that preserved the two-state solution and brought Palestinian independence and sovereignty closer.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining other nations in a move aimed at reviving momentum for a two-state solution but which has been criticized by Israel and the United States.

“Now is the time. Tomorrow is a historic date we need to build on. It’s not the end,” Shahin told reporters in Ramallah.

“It is a move bringing us closer to sovereignty and independence. It might not end the war tomorrow, but it’s a move forward, which we need to build on and amplify,” she said, referring to Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign in Gaza.

NETANYAHU SAYS THERE WILL NEVER BE A PALESTINIAN STATE

Israel has sharply criticized the step, with some ministers dismissing it as irrelevant, saying it does not change the realities on the ground. Others have insisted that a Palestinian state can only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month declared there would never be a Palestinian state.

Shahin said that Israel had no intention of negotiating, citing Netanyahu’s remarks at a ceremony this month to build a new settlement in the West Bank that would cut off northern Palestinian communities from those in the south.

“This recognition is certainly not symbolic. It is a practical, tangible, irreversible step that countries must take if they are invested in preserving the two-state solution,” Shahin said.

France and Saudi Arabia have led efforts to revive momentum for the two-state solution, with several countries to recognize a Palestinian state this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has dismissed the efforts as a stunt and counterproductive. Israeli officials have hardened their positions on settlement construction and West Bank annexation as international momentum for Palestinian statehood has grown.

Israel has faced growing diplomatic isolation this year, as many of its closest allies, with the exception of the US, have condemned its assault on Gaza. Some have sanctioned Israeli ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians.

Shahin said political pressure on Israel must shift to economic measures “to hold Israel accountable and protect the Palestinian people.”

“Today, Gaza burns. Today, Gaza is destroyed. Today in Gaza, people are systematically murdered,” Shahin said, accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening event of the largest-ever bipartisan delegation of American legislators to Israel at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday there has been progress on a security deal with Syria but an agreement was not imminent.

Speaking at the outset of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said victory against Hezbollah in Lebanon had opened up the possibility of peace with Israel’s northern neighbors.

“We are holding talks with the Syrians, there is some progress, but there was still a ways to go,” he said. “In any case these discussions, as well as the contacts with Lebanon, would not have been possible without our decisive victories on the northern front and others.”

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”

He said a security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.

Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday he will raise the subject of Israel’s “massacres” in Gaza at the U.N. General Assembly and voiced hope that wider recognition of Palestine would speed efforts for a two-state solution.

Speaking to reporters before departing for New York, Erdogan said he would discuss cooperation on trade and the defense industry with US President Donald Trump, and that he would also meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his trip.