Norway, Ireland and Spain announced they would recognize a Palestinian state on May 28

 

Haaretz:

PALESTINIAN STATE: In a coordinated move, Norway, Ireland and Spain announced they would recognize a Palestinian state on May 28. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the recognition.

• Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said "there cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition."
  
  
• Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the recognition was intended to help move the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to resolution through a two-state solution. Ireland plans to recognize the Palestinian state based on its 1967 borders, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said. Ireland's ambassador to Israel wrote in Haaretz: "Ireland is not under any illusion that [recognizing Palestine] will solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But without a political solution..[delivering] their equal right to peace, security and dignity, achieving it will be impossible."
  
  
• Norway's decision was a "reaction" to the policies of the Netanyahu government, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Haaretz hours after the announcement, saying it was "clear" that Israel's government "has no intention to negotiate with the Palestinian side, and has been so accepting and even supportive of new illegal settlements."
  
  
• Hamas said, "This is an important step on the road to base the right of the Palestinian people over its land, including the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
  
  
• Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz recalled Israel's ambassadors to Norway, Ireland and Spain for consultations, and summoned their envoys to Israel for a reprimand, during which, he said, they will be shown a video of the October 7 kidnapping of female military spotters.
  
  
• Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said it supports the recognition and called on other countries to follow suit in order to guarantee a "just and broad peace" in the Middle East.
  
  
• Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said his country "values the decision" made by Spain, Norway and Ireland, and condemned "the radical Israeli government," which, according to him, "announced more illegal measures" that "kill all prospects" of a Palestinian state.
  
  
• French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said officially recognizing the Palestinian state "is not a taboo for France," but any such decision must come at the right time and is not just as a matter of political positioning.

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Egypt secretly altered the terms of the cease-fire and hostage release deal being discussed between Israel and Hamas, leading to the collapse of negotiations, CNN reported, citing three sources who said Hamas agreed to a different draft than the one presented to Israel and the U.S.

• The families of five women military spotters kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 released footage showing their abduction to the public, the Hostage Families Forum said. The video was filmed by body cameras on Hamas terrorists.

■ ISRAEL: PM Netanyahu told CNN's Jake Tapper that Israel has no intention of resettling Gaza after the war, and that the goal remains ousting Hamas from power. "I have a very clear plan…We have to get rid of Hamas. Rafah is the last stronghold that ends the intense part of the fighting. If you mean resettling Gaza, it was never in the cards."

• Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded that PM Netanyahu take steps against the Palestinian Authority, and said "until further notice" he will not transfer tax funds collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority. He said he would also cancel the arrangement that gives Norway responsibility for transferring the PA's tax funds because of its recognition of a Palestinian state.
  
  
• In his first visit to the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa compound since October 7, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that Israel must stop fuel supplies to Gaza to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas, and said recognizing a Palestinian state means "rewarding" Hamas.
  
  
• Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told MSNBC he believes there will be normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, even within the coming year, adding that it has been hard for the Saudis to move forward with the ongoing war in Gaza but hopes things will change once the war ends.
  
  
• The IDF announced the names of three soldiers who were killed fighting in northern Gaza: Gideon Chay DeRowe, 33, Israel Yudkin, 22, and Eliyahau Haim Emsallem, 21.

"I don't think Netanyahu is 'hostage to the far right,' as many tend to think. That's a cop-out. He had options, he appointed them, he drives them, he never disciplines them or counters their actions. In that respect, he's a willing accomplice of his political captors because they hold the key – in fact, the only key – to the survival of his Armageddon coalition" – Alon Pinkas