Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has hinted that Palestine may be recognized as a state to speed up the peace process. However, in that case, Hamas will not have any role in running the government, he said.
Canberra has long said recognition of a Palestinian state can only come as part of a two-state solution through mediation with Israel.
But Wong’s comments echoed a statement by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron earlier this year. At the time, Cameron hinted that the UK could recognize a Palestinian state without Israel’s support.
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The Australian government has repeatedly expressed concern about Israel’s operations against Hamas in Gaza. The country also expressed concern over an Israeli air strike that killed an Australian aid worker and six others.
In a speech on Tuesday (April 9) night, Penny Wong said the only hope to break the ‘endless cycle of violence’ may be a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in separate countries.
Decades of failure to take this path, coupled with the Netanyahu government’s refusal to negotiate on the question of a Palestinian state, have caused widespread frustration, he said. The international community is therefore now considering the question of a Palestinian state as a way to speed up the two-state solution.
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However, the Australian opposition party and the Zionist Federation of Australia disagreed. According to them, such a decision taken by the Australian government regarding Palestine would be an immature step.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said they did not support the move and that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government threatened to break decades of ‘bipartisan Australian foreign policy’.
In a statement, Simon said the Albanian government’s argument for early recognition of a Palestinian state is putting statehood ahead of security. The terrorists who have started this terrible conflict now will win.
The president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Jeremy Lebler, said that the time has not yet come to discuss the recognition of the Palestinian state.
He said before any talks on statehood can be credible, Hamas must be removed and a new generation of Palestinian leadership must emerge who are not corrupt, will not condone violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Penny Wong, on the other hand, said the claim that recognizing a Palestinian state would “reward the enemy” is “false”. According to him, Israel’s security depends on a two-state solution and state recognition will help weaken and distance Hamas.
About 140 countries have recognized the state of Palestine, but countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia have not yet recognized it.
The United Nations is also considering granting Palestine, currently an ‘observer state’, full membership of the international body.
According to the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza, more than 33,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on the Palestinian Valley since October 7. Much of the war-torn territory has been destroyed and many Palestinians are facing famine.
Negotiations to end the conflict have been going on for a long time but have failed to reach an agreement. However, international pressure on Israel is increasing in this incident.
Source: BBC Bangla
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