Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour expressed satisfaction with the recent wave of international moves that have further isolated Israel on the global stage, led by several Western nations’ unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and the expected addition of more countries to that list.
“The new recognitions of our state are historic, especially coming from Britain,” Mansour said in an interview with Arab media. He urged the international community “to intensify steps against Israel,” stressing that the recognition marked significant progress toward securing “permanent status for Palestine at the UN.”
According to Mansour, “There are major shifts in Europe’s position on the Palestinian issue.” He praised punitive measures taken by some European countries against Israel, including economic sanctions and arms embargoes, and noted that the Saudi-French conference set to take place this evening at the UN “will contribute political momentum toward ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state.”
The envoy thanked Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar for their support, while condemning the United States for preventing the Palestinian delegation from attending the UN General Assembly session. “What is needed now are stronger practical steps that will suffocate this illegal occupation—like those taken by Spain,” Mansour said. “No sending weapons or ammunition to Israel, no importing them from Israel, and no allowing ports or airports to be used as stopovers for planes and ships carrying arms to Israel.”
Keir Starmer announces the UK recognizes the Palestinian State
He added: “Such punitive measures must be reinforced. Beyond Spain, other countries have taken similar actions—such as Colombia, which severed diplomatic relations with Israel and cut commercial and economic ties entirely, and Norway, which withdrew massive investments worth hundreds of billions from Israel and froze the rest. These are only examples of practical measures that will multiply and expand to limit this illegal occupation until Netanyahu and his government bow and submit to the will of the world and the people.”
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The prime ministers who recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday
(Photos: AAP/Lukas Coch via Reuters, Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images North America/AFP, Justin Tallis/AFP, Phil Noble/Reuters, Luis Vieira/AP)
So far, Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal have joined the growing list of nations recognizing a Palestinian state unilaterally. In their declarations, these countries stressed that Hamas would have no place in a future Palestinian state and emphasized that it would exist alongside Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced sharp criticism from the opposition over the diplomatic collapse—after Israel enjoyed virtually unlimited global backing at the start of the war—said that once he returns from the UN, Israel will announce its response to the unilateral recognitions. One option under consideration is declaring sovereignty over the Jordan Valley or other parts of the West Bank.