Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz took to social media on Monday to recognize the Palestinian state.
“A Palestinian state will be controlled by Hamas, supported by Iran, and will become a radical Islamic dictatorship, threatening Israel and moderate countries in the region,” wrote the head of Israeli diplomacy.
Katz urged Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris to reverse the “dangerous step” they took last May to recognize Palestine.
Katz’s remarks come after the armed forces announced on Sunday that they had recovered from Gaza the bodies of six of the more than 250 people kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,200 dead, after which the Israeli massacre in Gaza began.
The bodies of the six hostages – two women and four men aged between 23 and 40 – were found by the army in a tunnel south of Gaza.
On May 28, Spain, Ireland and Norway formalized their decision to recognize the Palestinian state, a decision that drew criticism from the Israeli political class.
Since then, the head of Israeli diplomacy has frequently criticized the three governments for this decision.
In early August, Katz decided to revoke the status of the eight Norwegian diplomats with the Palestinian National Authority, which governs smaller parts of the West Bank than those fully occupied by Israel.
“Those who attack us and pursue a unilateral policy against us will pay the price,” the minister said in the letter sent to the Norwegian embassy in the country.
Currently, nine European countries recognize the Palestinian state: Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Cyprus, Malta and Sweden; as well as almost all Arab countries or those historically linked to the Non-Aligned Movement.
Relatives of hostages call for new protests
The Hostage Families Forum criticized Netanyahu, saying that only eight hostages were rescued alive during military operations, compared to 105 released in the November truce agreement alone, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.
“We do not expect the terrorist (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar to want to return the hostages, we expect the Israeli prime minister to do everything, everything, everything to bring the hostages home,” the organization said, after Netanyahu again blamed Hamas, in a message of condolences, for the lack of a new pact.
“Hamas is not solely responsible for sabotaging the agreement,” the Forum added in a statement.
Representatives and relatives of the hostages have announced new protests in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, adding to yesterday’s call for a week of nationwide demonstrations calling for a truce in Gaza and an immediate deal for the hostages.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for more than two months. Without the delays, sabotage and excuses, those whose deaths we learned about this morning would probably still be alive,” reacted the Forum of Hostages and Missing Families, which called for demonstrations this Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Israel’s trade union federation, Histadrut, said Saturday it would decide “in the coming hours” whether to call a general strike, after the hostages’ families and opposition leader Yair Lapid asked it to do so. The government shut down the economy to protest the hostages’ deaths and the lack of a truce.
