Norway, Ireland, Spain to recognise Palestine state

Tel Aviv, AP: Norway, Ireland and Spain said on Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state, in a historic but largely symbolic move that deepens Israel's isolation more than seven months into its g rinding war against Hamas in Gaza.

The announcements came as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering allegations of genocide that Israel has strenuously denied.

Palestinians welcomed the announcements as an affirmation of their decades-long quest for statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and still controls.

Israel recalled its ambassadors to the three countries and summoned envoys, accusing the Europeans of rewarding the Hamas group for its October 7 attack that triggered the war. Netanyahu's government, is opposed to Palestinian statehood.