Israel tells EU nations that recognizing Palestine ‘reward for terrorism’

News Desk - The Cradle

Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta released a joint statement last week announcing that the four nations will recognize Palestinian statehood

Israel told four European nations on 25 March that their plan to recognize Palestinian statehood constitutes a “reward for terrorism” that would hinder efforts towards a ceasefire.

“The comments of the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, about recognizing a Palestinian state, as well as the joint statement by Spain, Malta, Slovenia, and Ireland about their readiness to recognize a Palestinian state, constitute a reward for terrorism,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Lior Haiat, said via social media.

Haiat added that recognizing a Palestinian state following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood “sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians.”

“Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability,” he added.

On Friday, the heads of Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta released a joint statement announcing that they would take steps towards recognizing a Palestinian state.

The four leaders said in their statement that “the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region is through the implementation of a two-state solution, with Israeli and Palestinian States living side-by-side, in peace and security.”

All four EU nations have been vocal about their support for Palestine.

Spain has repeatedly made moves against the wishes of Tel Aviv, most recently vowing to continue support of the UNRWA

Malta has accepted to offer medical aid to Palestinians like three-year-old Selah Hajras, who was injured in an Israeli airstrike.

Haiat added in his social media post that “the only way to fight Palestinian terrorism is to unequivocally condemn Hamas for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and sexual crimes that it committed during the 7 October attack and continues to commit and to issue an explicit call for the release of all the hostages.”

Israel continues to push atrocity propaganda around the 7 October military operation, despite the refutation and lack of evidence for such claims, as well as mounting proof that the Israeli army killed its own civilians that day.

Meanwhile, it continues to wage what has come to be recognized as a genocidal war on the people of Gaza.

Most recently, first-person testimonies from witnesses of the crimes committed by the Israeli army during its Al-Shifa Hospital raid have emerged, indicating army personnel “forced 65 families to leave the area around the Al-Shifa Medical Complex whilst burning and killing entire families.”

According to eyewitness Jamila al-Hisi, women who were trapped in the medical complex were subjected to rape, starvation, torture, and extrajudicial execution.