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Israel Rejects European Bid to Unilaterally Recognize Palestinian State as ‘Reward for Terrorism’
Then-Israeli transportation minister Israel Katz attends the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 17, 2019. Katz currently serves as the foreign minister. Photo: Sebastian Scheiner/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s foreign ministry on Monday warned four EU member states that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would effectively amount to a reward for terrorism.
“Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat declared on X/Twitter.
Haiat added that a “resolution of the conflict will only be possible through direct negotiations between the parties. Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability.”
The foreign ministry was responding to a joint announcement on the sidelines of last Thursday’s European Council meeting in Brussels issued by Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta. The four EU members stated that they had “agreed on the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and a rapid, massive and sustained increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Signed by their four respective prime ministers — including the now former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who abruptly announced his resignation last week — the statement continued: “We are agreed that the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region is through implementation of a two-state solution, with Israeli and Palestinian States living side-by-side, in peace and security. We discussed together our readiness to recognize Palestine and said that we would do so when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right.”
Haiat said that the “comments of the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, about recognizing a Palestinian state, as well as the joint statement by Spain, Malta, Slovenia, and Ireland about their readiness to recognize a Palestinian state, constitute a reward for terrorism.”
At the same time, Spain appears to be moving away from its threat to recognize a Palestinian state unilaterally, as was suggested last November by Sanchez. Speaking in Brussels, Sanchez said that Madrid would prefer to coordinate recognition with other EU member states.
“We want to take this step united. It’s a decisive step in order to lay the foundations of a lasting peace,” he said. Sanchez also argued that the fact the four leaders represented all sides of the political spectrum — with Spain and Malta governed by centre-left parties, Slovenia by a Liberal party, and Ireland by a centre-right party — demonstrated a broad consensus that the recognition of State of Palestine is necessary for any future peace process.
Slovene Prime Minister Robert Golob separately pledged a greater effort at the UN to secure recognition of a Palestinian state. Golob said that conditions for doing so may be “ripe” within “a few weeks, maybe a month.”
However, European Council President Charles Michel said last Friday that recognition was not yet on the 27-member bloc’s agenda.
“The debate on the recognition of Palestine was not on the table,” Michel said following the Brussels parley. “But I will share with you what I think about it. I think that if the idea is to start a kind of process so it’s possible to take into account steps that could be made on both sides — by the Palestinian Authority, for instance, and by Israel— then it could be a useful process.”
On Monday, a Spanish government spokesperson told the Publico news outlet that while Israel was considered a “friendly” country, reviving the peace process was the key imperative.
“Spain is a sovereign country that makes its decisions in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the spokesperson said.
The influence of the four states on the EU as a whole is limited, moreover. According to the most recent budget figures available, only eight EU member states, led by Germany and France, are net contributors to the bloc. Of the four states pushing for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, only Ireland is a net contributor, while Spain, Malta, and Slovenia are classed as beneficiaries. Additionally, both Malta and the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia are relatively new members, having acceded to the EU in 2004.
The post Israel Rejects European Bid to Unilaterally Recognize Palestinian State as ‘Reward for Terrorism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.