Aljazeera :
Portugal joins Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
In a statement on Friday, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the recognition takes place on Sunday, a day before a high-level conference on Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Portugal recognises the State of Palestine,” the ministry writes in a statement on its website.
“The Official Declaration of Recognition takes place on Sunday, September 21st, before next week’s High-Level Conference,” it adds.
According to Portugal’s Correio da Manha newspaper, centre-right Prime Minister Luis Montenegro consults with the president and parliament before finalising the decision.
This move ends nearly 15 years of debate in parliament after the Left Bloc political party first put forward the proposal in 2011.
Portugal’s announcement comes just days after a landmark UN inquiry finds that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide.
At least 65,141 people are killed and 165,925 wounded since Israel’s onslaught begins in October 2023, with thousands more believed to be buried under the rubble.
The Portuguese government first signals its intention to recognise Palestine in July, citing the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict,” the humanitarian crisis, and Israel’s repeated threats to annex Palestinian land.
Earlier on Friday, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron says Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and San Marino also plan to recognise Palestine alongside France at the high-level meeting it co-organises with Saudi Arabia in New York on Monday. Canada and the United Kingdom announce similar intentions.
They join some 147 countriesrepresenting 75 percent of UN membersthat already recognise Palestinian statehood as of April this year.
Portugal also votes among 145 countries on Friday to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the UNGA in New York next week by video, after the United States denies him a visa.
Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, Israel, and the US vote against the move, while six countries abstain.
Israel and the US strongly criticise countries recognising Palestine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls France’s announcement a “reckless decision” that “only serves Hamas propaganda.”
Israel’s Finance Minister BezalelSmotrich warns that a new illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank will be established for every country that recognises Palestine.
In Luxembourg, Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel tell a parliamentary commission that their country intends to recognise Palestine at the UNGA.
Bettelalso promises to propose a bill to parliament for additional measures, including possible sanctions, according to broadcaster RTL Letzebuerg.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, urges countries to go further by imposing sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel.
Under its 1947 partition plan, the UNGA allocates 45 percent of the land to an Arab state. At that time, the UNGA has only 57 member states, with dozens of colonised countries unable to vote.
