Albanese announces Palestinian recognition, saying war in Gaza has gone too far

Albanese announces Palestinian recognition, saying war in Gaza has gone too far

Story by political reporter Jake Evans



Australia will join other nations to recognise Palestine, subject to conditions including that Hamas plays no role in its governance. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)


Australia will move to recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly next month, with a condition that terror group Hamas play no role in its future governance.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would work with the international community to make recognition a reality.

"Australia will recognise the state of Palestine. Australia will recognise the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own, predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority," Mr Albanese said.

"A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza."

The Palestinian Authority has promised Australia it would recognise Israel's right to exist, demilitarise and hold general elections, among other commitments.

Mr Albanese said every generation had known "failures and false storms" in the decades of failure to internationally recognise a state of Israel and of Palestine.

But he said the world could not wait for success to be guaranteed.

"The risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment pass us by. The toll of the status quo is growing by the day and it could be measured in innocent lives," Mr Albanese said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it had been more than 77 years since the world promised a Palestinian state.

"In the nearly two years since [the] October 7 [terror attack by Hamas], we have been working with the international community on breaking the cycle of violence," she said.

"We can't keep waiting for the end of a peace process that has ground to a halt."

The prime minister said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a "long" and "civil" discussion.

"The arguments he put to me were very similar to the arguments he put more than a year ago. It seems to me very clearly … we need a political solution, not a military one," he said.

"I have said it publicly and I said it directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu: the situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world's worst fears.

"Far too many innocent lives have been lost. The Israeli government continues to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children.

"This vital aid must be allowed to get to the people who need it most. This is about much more than drawing a line on a map."


Israel claims decision 'elevates Hamas'

Ahead of the decision, Mr Netanyahu told journalists that Australia and other nations were "delusional" for thinking Palestinian recognition would bring peace.

"To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that. Fall right into it … I think it's actually shameful, but it's not going to change our position," Mr Netanyahu said.

Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said Mr Albanese's decision "would not change the reality on the ground".

"Peace is not achieved through declarations; it is achieved when those who have chosen terror abandon it and when violence and incitement end," Mr Maimon said in a statement.

"By recognising a Palestinian state now, Australia elevates the position of Hamas, a group i acknowledges as a terrorist organisation."

The Opposition has argued now is not the time to recognise Palestine, supporting Israel's view that it would be a reward to Hamas.

In a statement, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the government's unilateral decision put it out of step with Australia's "most important ally" and most consequential player in the Middle East, the United States.

"Until today it has been a bipartisan position that the question of recognising Palestinian statehood should come at the end of the peace negotiation process, not at the start or during it," Ms Ley said.

"Anthony Albanese has committed Australia to recognising Palestine while hostages remain in tunnels under Gaza and with Hamas still in control of the population of Gaza.

"Australians all want the war in Gaza to end. Ending this war is the only way to save lives and safeguard a two-state solution. The clear advice of our most important ally is this decision will not expedite that outcome."

Recognition 'practical contribution' to peace, says PM

Australia has long maintained a bipartisan position that the states of Israel and Palestine should be able to peacefully coexist under a "two-state solution" and within internationally recognised borders.

But as a number of Australia's allies, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, say they are prepared to formally recognise Palestine next month, momentum has built for Australia to follow.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed this afternoon it too was carefully weighing its position on recognition and would decide in the next month.

The prime minister said last month, however, his government would only move to recognise Palestine if doing so would be a "meaningful" contribution to peace.

Senator Wong this afternoon said "September is that time".

Australia's recognition of Palestine would not immediately shift its legal standing.

But it would mark a historic moment for Australia to add its voice to international calls for recognition, and build pressure on Israel and the United States to find a pathway towards recognition.

"This is a practical contribution towards building momentum," Mr Albanese said.

"This is not Australia acting alone. What we are seeing is a range of countries engaging in detailed dialogue … behind the scenes, if you like, about what peace looks like in the region."

The Palestinian Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas told Anthony Albanese last week that Australia could play an "important" role as a diplomatic middle power by recognising Palestine.

Reacting to the announcement, Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said the prime minister's commitment was a "betrayal" of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas.

"This announcement gives them no hope for release. It leaves Hamas armed and in control of territory, and in a position to regroup and rearm," Mr Aghion said in a statement.

"The government has departed from decades of bipartisan consensus which has envisaged Palestinian statehood and recognition as part of a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab States."


US maintains veto power over Palestinian recognition

The United Kingdom has said it will also formally recognise Palestine at the September UN meeting unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and resumes humanitarian aid.

And Canada and France have said they intend to recognise Palestine at the UN, with conditions that Hamas play no role in its future governance.

France and the UK's recognition would leave the United States as the sole permanent member of the UN Security Council not to have recognised Palestine.

However, as a permanent member, the US has a veto power over Security Council resolutions, a power it has previously used to block Palestine's admission.

US President Donald Trump has said recognising Palestine in September would be "rewarding Hamas" after its October 7, 2023, attack, when hundreds of Israeli civilians were killed and more than 200 people taken hostage.

The US embassy confirmed Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke earlier today, and discussed "issues" in the Middle East.

Currently, 147 of the 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.

Many hurdles to a two-state solution

Even if Palestinian statehood were to be endorsed at the General Assembly, a negotiated two-state solution has proven an insurmountable task for decades.

Recent major attempts in 2007 and 2013 to negotiate a solution, coordinated by the US, ended without an agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has objected to Palestinian statehood, particularly since October 7, and Israel continues to occupy parts of the Palestinian territories, including settlements in the West Bank deemed illegal under international law.

This morning, he repeated that Israel had offered terms for a conditional statehood "many times" and it had been rejected.

"The prevailing assumption in this is that the problem that we have with the Palestinians is the absence of a Palestinian state, and if they were given a Palestinian state, they would stop the efforts to destroy the Jewish state," he said.

"The real reason that this conflict persists is not because of the absence of a Palestinian state, but the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognise a Jewish state in any boundary."

Just days ago, Mr Netanyahu also approved the takeover of Gaza City in a major escalation of the war.

On the Palestinian side, Hamas has refused to relinquish control of Gaza, and refuses to disarm until a Palestinian state is recognised.

While the Palestinian Authority signed a declaration last year that would allow Hamas to be included in a temporary "national unity" government after the war, Mr Albanese said today it had given commitments that Hamas would have no role to play, that the PA would disarm as part of a peace deal, and would restart elections in the territory.

Many of the Arab League nations also do not recognise Israel.

But in a momentous shift in Middle Eastern politics, those nations last month backed a declaration that called on Hamas to disarm and end its rule in Gaza so that a solution that recognises both Israel and Palestine could be negotiated.

Mr Albanese said the history of failures in implementing a two-state solution "casts a long shadow".

But he said the world could not let this moment pass by.

"There is a moment of truth here and Australia will work with the international community to seize it."

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Let us all remind ourselves that Hamas was created and nurtured by the Israeli State, in their nefarious intent to sabotage Fatah. Wakakaka, you nurse what was a viper in your breast so suck on its venom, Shailoks - in short, reap what you sow.

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

- Galatians 6:7–9 (KJV)