▲ On September 18th, on the coastal road west of Gaza City, people carrying daily necessities joined the crowd and evacuated southward. According to Xinhua News Agency
On September 21, Portugal, Britain, Canada and Australia announced their official recognition of the State of Palestine, and on September 22, at an international conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, more countries, including France, are expected to announce their recognition of the State of Palestine.
It is reported that the move by Britain and Canada marks that the first member countries of the Group of Seven (G7) have recognized the Palestinian state. According to the analysis, the traditional ally of the United States "Britain, Canada and Australia" has taken an important step in foreign policy, which may also be a step for them to break with the United States. However, even if this move by Western countries has strong historical symbolic significance, it cannot fundamentally change the status quo in Gaza. Israeli tanks are still advancing in Gaza, and displaced Palestinians are still under constant attacks.
However, many people said that although the recognition of Britain, France and other countries will not change the reality that a functioning Palestinian state cannot be established in the short term, it may promote the gradual change of the situation.
While in the heart of the war in Gaza City, a significant medical facility, the Shifa Hospital, has almost been torn into ruins, as a hope for wounded Palestinians, the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abu Salemya, insisted that no matter how bad the conditions, all the hospital’s medical staff will stay here to do their best to heal the wounded.
The West’s “recognition tide”
Countries such as the United States, Japan and South Korea have become a "minority"
The previous year, Norway, Spain and Ireland had announced their official recognition of the Palestinian state. The recognition of the Palestinian state by these western countries means a major change in their foreign policy, and it is enough to explain how shocked they are at Israel's actions in Gaza.
After France joins the UK and Canada, half of the G7 countries (United States, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada) will recognize the State of Palestine.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in November 1917. Arthur Balfour, then British Foreign Secretary, wrote to Walter Rothschild, vice chairman of the British Zionist Union, saying that the British government agreed to "establish a national homeland by Jews in Palestine". Britain has been reluctant to recognize the Palestinian state before. However, with Israel's attack on Gaza, the anger of the British people has increased day by day, and pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held frequently. Even more than one-third of British Prime Minister Starmer's cabinet has called on the Prime Minister to take action.
▲ British Prime Minister Starmer
In fact, Stammer warned Israel in July that it would take action in September if no more substantial action was taken to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The United States and Israel have shown anger at the successive recognition of the Palestinian state by western countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused these Western leaders and said, "We'll see."
Palestinian political scientist Rida Abu Ras believes that the latest measures of these Western countries have very important symbolic significance. "It is very important that Israel will find it further isolated in the international community."
Among the 193 member states of the United Nations, about 150 countries have recognized the State of Palestine.With the accession of countries such as Britain and Australia, only the United States, Japan, South Korea and a handful of European countries have not yet recognized the State of Palestine, the majority of countries in the world have recognized the State of Palestine, and the "recognition tide" of Western countries has further raised Palestine's diplomatic status.
Fighting continues in Gaza
The head of the hospital will not give up on the patient.
But even though so many countries recognize the Palestinian state, it still cannot become a full member of the United Nations. If you want to become a full member of the United Nations, you must vote by the United Nations Security Council. Last April, the United States vetoed a draft resolution on Palestine's application to become a full member of the United Nations in the UN Security Council. It is expected that the United States will continue to exercise "one-vote veto" in similar proposals in the future.
Despite the importance of Western statements, the Palestinian political scientist Da Abu Ras still believes that Western symbolism does not change the status quo in Gaza and that they (the Western leaders) are essentially still “returning their faces.”
However, against the background of the continued escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the deep humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the decision of Western countries to recognize the Palestinian state highlights the increasing impatience of the international community with the stagnation of the Middle East peace process. As British Deputy Prime Minister Lamy said, recognizing that the Palestinian state cannot feed the hungry children in Gaza or allow the detainees to be released, it means that Britain supports the "two-state solution" and supports the justice of the Palestinian national liberation cause.
▲ Al-Shifa Hospital Dean Mohammed Abu Salemia
At the moment, Israeli tanks continue to advance to Gaza and attack the area from the sea and air, while the Shifa Hospital in the center of the city has become a place of hope for many wounded Palestinians. Since the outbreak of the conflict, the former largest medical facility in Gaza has been attacked by Israeli air and ground, and the vast majority of the hospital buildings have become ruins. Director Salemiah has been arrested by the Israeli army for “Hamas suspected of using the Shifa Hospital as a ‘terrorist’ base” and has served more than seven months in prison without being previously officially accused.
Despite the difficulties, the Hospitals of Shifa and Salemia have not given up on rescue. The Hospitals of Shifa, with the building debris destroyed, have been converted into emergency rooms for wounded Palestinians; the surgical rooms that can also be used will be converted into emergency rooms for patients with severe illnesses. An Australian volunteer working at the Hospital of Shifa said that the working environment here is very tough, “I saw the hardships of these medical workers.”
In an interview, Salemya said that Israel hit his home in the September 20 airstrikes, “I saw the bodies of my sister and children in the hospital.”
Red Star Reporters and Central Television Reporters
Edited by Penny.