&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Spain's Sanchez demands UN membership for Palestine, slams ‘barbarism’ in Gaza")
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday (Sep 22) urged the United Nations to admit Palestine as a full member state, stepping up his calls for recognition at a French-led summit in New York. Calling the summit, which Israel and its chief backer, the United States, did not attend, "only the beginning", Sanchez insisted that the process of Palestine joining the United Nations must be completed soon.
The process needs to be completed soon: Sanchez
“This conference marks a milestone, but it’s not the end of the road. It’s only the beginning,” Sanchez told the UN General Assembly. “The State of Palestine must be a full member of the United Nations," he insisted.
Also read | US State Department labels recognition of Palestinian state by UK and other allies 'performative': Report
The Spanish PM told the landmark UK summit that the process of Palestine's state joining the UN as a full member state "must be completed as soon as possible, on an equal footing with other states.”
Sanchez, one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, also called for “immediate measures to stop the barbarism and make peace possible.” Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, formally recognised Palestine in May, prompting sharp pushback from Israel.
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Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, who was not allowed to attend in person by Washington, addressed the summit virtually and urged Hamas to surrender its weapons to his administration. “We also condemn the killing and detention of civilians, including Hamas actions on October 7, 2023,” he said.
Netanyahu stands firm against Palestinian statehood
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to block Palestinian statehood, while far-right ministers in his coalition openly advocate annexing the West Bank. “It will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said in a televised address, denouncing the recognition push as “absurd” and a danger to Israel’s survival. He vowed instead to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Israel has controlled since 1967 in defiance of international law.
The Biden administration has also opposed the latest push, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying President Trump views recognition as “a reward to Hamas.” On Sunday (Sep 21), a US State Department spokesperson, while addressing the recent recognition of a Palestinian state by Britain, Australia, Canada, and Portugal, said that America's "focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures."
