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Irish PM Reiterates Intention to Recognize Palestinian State This Month, Says He ‘Abhors’ Israeli Actions in Gaza
Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris stands on the day of his meeting with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to discuss recognizing a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, April 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has reiterated his government’s intention to formally recognize a Palestinian state by the end of the month.
Ireland will “recognize the state of Palestine this month,” Harris told members of the Irish parliament this week without specifying a date. “We obviously hope to do so with some other countries.”
The comments came after Harris made a similar promise on Sunday during Ireland’s annual National Famine Commemoration.
“What I can tell you is that it is absolutely our intention to recognize the state of Palestine this month and there is not that long left in this month,” he said.
“The specific date will be decided in the coming days,” Harris added, explaining that “there is important sequencing that our country and other countries have to carry out. I mean political processes that have to be followed, and they differ slightly from country to country.”
Harris’s remarks over the weekend followed a tense phone exchange with Israeli President Isaac Herzog over the weekend.
“I had a good conversation with the president of Israel. We had a firm and respectful conversation,” Harris said. “It is my job as the Taoiseach [prime minister] of this country to speak up for the Irish position and speak out on behalf of the people of Ireland and the Irish position in relation to the Middle East, to Gaza, and to Israel.”
When asked about the prospect of Ireland and Israel breaking diplomatic relations, Harris responded, “Certainly Ireland doesn’t wish to sever diplomatic relations. You can strongly disagree with a country; you can differentiate between the government of a country and the people of a country.”
The Irish premier echoed that point while speaking to lawmakers this week.
“Ireland has decided to maintain diplomatic links with Israel,” he said. “We maintain diplomatic links with countries even if we abhor their actions.”
Harris was responding to outcry among members of Ireland’s parliament who objected to the presence of Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, at the famine commemoration.
Harris defended Erlich’s presence but attacked the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I abhor the actions of the Netanyahu government regarding what is happening in the Middle East,” he said in an apparent reference to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Harris’s comments came after Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin similarly said last week that Ireland will recognize a Palestinian state before the end of this month.
“We will be recognizing the state of Palestine before the end of the month,” Martin told Newstalk radio. “The specific date is still fluid because we’re still in discussions with some countries in respect of a joint recognition.”
Some European leaders, especially in Spain and Ireland, have been calling for countries to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing doing so would help foster a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which, they argue, would lead to lasting peace in the region.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday teased his plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Specifically, Sanchez said in an interview with TV channel La Sexta that on Wednesday he would announce the date on which Madrid, along with other countries, will recognize a “State of Palestine.”
Similar to his Irish counterpart, Sanchez said he would only recognize a Palestinian state in a joint action with other countries and denied reports that the recognition would occur on May 21.
Israel has warned European countries that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would effectively amount to a “reward for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict — a point echoed by Netanyahu last week.
“We will not reward the terrible massacre of Oct. 7, which 80 percent of the Palestinians support, both in Gaza and the West Bank,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referencing Palestinian polling that has shown widespread support for Hamas’ atrocities. “We will not allow them to establish a terrorist state from which they will be able to vigorously attack us.”
He added, “Nobody will prevent us, prevent Israel, from realizing our basic right to self-defense — not the UN General Assembly or any other body. We will stand together with our head held high to defend our country.”
Netanyahu’s comments came after the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved a proposal to oppose a UN resolution promoting recognition of a Palestinian state.
Spain and Ireland have been among the most vocal critics of Israel since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded the Jewish state from neighboring Gaza. The terrorists murdered 1,200 people and abducted over 250 others as hostages in their rampage, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas, which rules Gaza.
Antisemitism in Ireland has become “blatant and obvious” in the wake of the Hamas onslaught, according to Alan Shatter, a former member of parliament who served in the Irish cabinet between 2011 and 2014 as Minister for Justice, Equality and Defense.
Shatter told The Algemeiner in an interview earlier this year that Ireland has “evolved into the most hostile state towards Israel in the entire EU.”
The post Irish PM Reiterates Intention to Recognize Palestinian State This Month, Says He ‘Abhors’ Israeli Actions in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.