The prime ministers of Ireland, Spain and Norway have hailed their decision to recognize a Palestinian state as an “important step” toward “peace” in the region.
All three stressed the role of Palestinian statehood in enforcing the two-state solution in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the Spanish parliament that Spain had chosen to “recognize the state of Palestine for peace, coherence and justice.”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the move an “important step” toward “permanent peace,” speaking to journalists in Dublin.
Harris acknowledged that although there will be “reaction” and “interpretations” of the decision’s implications, it was important to “not lose sight” that children in Gaza and Israel both “deserve peace.”
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told reporters in Oslo that “there can be no peace in the Middle East unless Palestinians and Israelis have their own state, and that there is a two-state solution.”