BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain, Norway and Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday, in a coordinated effort by the three Western European countries to increase international pressure on Israel to soften its response to last year's Hamas attack. Israel condemned the diplomatic move, which will have no immediate impact on the war in Gaza.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address from Madrid: “This is a historic decision that has a single objective: to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz immediately attacked Spain over Case X, claiming that Sánchez's government was “complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”

Ireland and Norway soon followed Spain and formalised a decision they had jointly announced the previous week.

The Palestinian flag was raised in Dublin in front of Leinster House, the seat of the Irish Parliament.

“I hope this sends a message of hope to the Palestinian people that Ireland stands with them in this, their darkest hour,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told MPs in the Irish Parliament after his cabinet officially signed the decision.

“It is no longer enough to just condemn. It is no longer enough to just reject,” he added. “We must be on the right side of history.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement: “Norway has been one of the strongest supporters of a Palestinian state for more than 30 years. Norway's official recognition of Palestine as a state today is a milestone in relations between Norway and Palestine.”

While some 140 countries – more than two-thirds of the United Nations – have recognised a Palestinian state, none of the major Western powers have done so. Still, the accession of three European countries to the group is a victory for Palestinian efforts in the eyes of the world and is likely to put pressure on European Union heavyweights France and Germany to reconsider their position.

So far, only seven members of the 27 EU states have officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former Eastern Bloc states that announced their recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus before joining the EU. Sweden only recognized the state in 2014.

Relations between the EU and Israel have deteriorated rapidly following diplomatic recognition by two EU member states and Madrid's demand on Monday that the EU take action against Israel over ongoing deadly attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Following the meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said: “For the first time I have actually seen a meaningful discussion on sanctions against Israel at an EU meeting.”

Irish Prime Minister Harris insisted on Tuesday that the EU should consider economic sanctions against Israel, saying: “Europe could do a hell of a lot more.”

Norway, which is not an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the EU, handed over diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government the weekend before formal recognition.

At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell supported the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other individuals, including leaders of the militant Hamas group.

The formal declaration and the resulting diplomatic row come more than seven months after Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, in which Hamas crossed the border into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Israel's air and ground strikes have killed 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

The joint statement by Spain, Ireland and Norway last week sparked an angry reaction from Israeli authorities, who summoned those countries' ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the Foreign Ministry, where they were filmed being shown videos of the October 7 Hamas attack and kidnappings.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said his government would decide on Monday whether to recognize a Palestinian state and submit its decision to parliament for final approval.

Finnish state broadcaster YLE quoted President Alexander Stubb as saying that the Nordic country would also recognize the convention on Tuesday “at some point in the future.”

The US and Britain, among others, support the idea of ​​an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but believe that this should only happen as part of a negotiated solution. Netanyahu's government says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations.

In his speech on Tuesday, Sánchez said that recognizing a Palestinian state was “a decision that we do not make against anyone, least of all against Israel, a friendly people that we respect, that we value and with which we want to have the best possible relationship.”

The socialist leader spent months touring countries in Europe and the Middle East, including Oslo and Dublin, to gain support for recognition of a Palestinian state, calling for a permanent ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages still held by Hamas.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares will meet with a group of Middle Eastern countries allied with the United States in the Spanish capital on Wednesday. Also in the meeting are Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.

Sánchez said his intention was to support the beleaguered Palestinian Authority, which has lost de facto political control of Gaza to Hamas. He laid out his vision of a Palestinian Authority-ruled state that would link the West Bank and Gaza via a corridor with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, cooperates with Israel on security issues and advocates a negotiated two-state solution. Its forces were expelled from Gaza by Hamas when the militants seized power there in 2007.

Palestinians have long sought an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. The idea of ​​a land corridor connecting Gaza and the West Bank through Israel has been discussed in previous rounds of peace talks, but there have been no serious or substantive peace negotiations for more than 15 years.

“We will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders that have not been agreed upon by the parties,” Sánchez added.

“In addition, this decision reflects our absolute rejection of Hamas, a terrorist organization that is opposed to the two-state solution,” said Sánchez. “Spain has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of October 7 from the outset. This clear condemnation is the firm expression of our unwavering commitment to the fight against terrorism. I would like to stress that from tomorrow we will focus all our efforts on implementing the two-state solution and making it a reality.”

The Irish government announced it would appoint an ambassador and establish a full-fledged embassy in Ramallah in the West Bank. Norway will upgrade its diplomatic office in the West Bank to an embassy. Spain said it would keep its consulate in Jerusalem for the time being, although Israel has said the consulate cannot serve Palestinians.

Barth Eide, the Norwegian foreign minister, added on Tuesday: “It is regrettable that the Israeli government shows no signs of constructive engagement.”

“The recognition is a strong expression of support for moderate forces in both countries,” said Norway’s top diplomat.

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Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Jill Lawless and Brian Melley in London, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

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