Australia will recognise the state of Palestine in a historic move that will redefine the nation’s foreign policy.
After signalling a likely diplomatic shift, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday revealed his government will join France, the UK and Canada in recognising Palestine at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.
“Australia will recognise the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra.
“We will work with the international community to make this right a reality.”
More than 140 of 193 UN member states already recognise Palestine, including European Union member states Spain and Ireland.
Mr Albanese said the move to recognise Palestine was part of a coordinated global effort for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he said.
While Labor has long supported a two-state solution where Israel and Palestine peacefully co-exist, the federal government had previously been hesitant to commit to a timeline on recognition.
But Mr Albanese has also recently said recognition was a matter of “when, not if”.
He’s also said any UN resolution on recognition would need to guarantee that the designated terror group Hamas, which de facto governs Gaza, played no role in its future government.
But as images of emaciated children have poured out of the Gaza Strip, the federal government has faced increasing pressure to do more.
At least 90,000 protesters marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in early August, alongside thousands more in other Australian capitals, urging the government to sanction Israel.
The prime minister said the international community had to act.
“This is about much more than drawing a line on a map. This is about delivering a lifeline to the people of Gaza,” he said.
“The toll of the status quo is growing by the day, and it can be measured in innocent lives. The world cannot wait for success to be guaranteed.”
“That only means waiting for a day that will never come. There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it.”
Momentum for a Palestinian state has also swelled within Labor’s ranks, as MP Ed Husic and former Foreign Minister Bob Carr called for action.
And on Monday, the prime minister finally revealed Australia would be taking the diplomatic leap, days after Israel announced plans to occupy Gaza in a final push to drive out Hamas.
But Palestinian recognition could be used as a “veneer” that allows Israel to “continue brutalising Palestinians with no consequences”, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network’s president Nasser Mashni warned.
“This announcement of recognition is a cynical political smokescreen, an empty gesture designed to shield Australia’s economic, military and diplomatic ties, protect Israel and enable this rogue state to continue its deadly war crimes with impunity,” he said in a statement.
Ahead of the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the stances taken by Australia and other nations on Palestine were “shameful” and warned it would not create peace in the Middle East.
The crisis in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking about 250 more hostage.
Israel’s response has since killed more than 61,000 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities, and UN sources project more than two million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
Israel has denied that the population is suffering or dying from starvation despite international human rights groups condemning its offensive.
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