Ireland will move to recognize Palestinian statehood: Minister

Ireland will move to recognize a Palestinian state in the coming weeks, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Tuesday in Dublin.

Martin said he will bring a formal proposal on recognition of a Palestinian state to the government when “wider international discussions” are complete.

“Be in no doubt, recognition of a Palestinian state will happen,” he told the Irish parliament during a speech.
Delaying recognition “is not credible or tenable any longer,” he said.

Martin later told local news site the Journal that the formal proposal will happen “in the next couple of weeks.”

He said that for the past six months he has been in discussions about recognition with other countries involved in peace initiatives.

Last month the leaders of Spain, Ireland, Slovakia and Malta said in a joint statement that they stand ready to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Ireland has long said it has no objection in principle to officially recognizing the Palestinian state if it could help the peace process in the Middle East.

But the war in Gaza has given the issue new impetus.

The war broke out with Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,360 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

“I am in no doubt that war crimes have been committed and I utterly condemn the ongoing bombardment of the Gazan people,” said Martin.

Statehood recognition “could be a catalyst to help the people of Gaza and the West Bank and in furthering an Arab-led peace initiative,” he said.