Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Monday that Australia will formally recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly this September.
Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters the Palestinian Authority has committed to disarmament, recognizing Israel, and excluding Hamas from any future government, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Earlier reports suggested Canberra was weighing a timeline for recognition, but the Cabinet has now formally approved the plan.
Asked whether the announcement could further embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to continue its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, Albanese said he expressed his concerns with Netanyahu about Israel's military actions in Gaza.
“I think that I expressed it in a very clear way. But the prime minister's comments were similar to what he had made a year ago, which is that they were determined to remove Hamas,” he said.
France has announced its intention to recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September, while the U.K. has moved to support recognition of Palestine if Israel fails to meet a set of conditions.
Reiterating Australia’s calls for the release of hostages and an immediate ceasefire, Albanese said Australians want the “killing to stop” and “peace and security in the Middle East.”
“This conflict, which has gone on for such a long period of time, I think Australians want to see an end to it. And an end to it can only be secured when both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security,” he said.
Responding to a question about whether Australia’s decision is a “symbolic gesture” and whether the government expects the U.S. to veto the move at the UN Security Council, Albanese said the announcement is part of a “practical contribution to build momentum.”
Asked about comments from Netanyahu that recognizing Palestine won’t bring peace, Albanese said the Israeli prime minister presented the same arguments to him that he has made internationally.
“I put arguments that are consistent with what I have said publicly over a long period of time as well,” he added.
He said he told Netanyahu the situation in Gaza had “gone beyond the world’s worst fears.”
The prime minister said the international community is moving to establish a Palestinian state and opposing actions that undermine a two-state solution.
“The Netanyahu government is rapidly expanding illegal settlements. Settler violence in the West Bank has increased. There have been threats to annex the occupied Palestinian territories and to propose the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian people. These actions, together with the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, risk putting a two-state solution out of reach for a generation,” he said.
Albanese noted the Israeli government continues to defy international law and deny sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Asked whether Australia’s decision to recognize Palestine was discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Wong said she spoke to Blinken “as a matter of diplomatic courtesy.”
Netanyahu called Australia’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state “shameful,” saying it would not bring peace to Israel.
