Reactions to the Wave of Recognition of a Palestinian State

Dr. Igal Shiri and Elad Drori

Overview

• About ten countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Australia, announced their recognition of a Palestinian state, bringing the number of countries recognizing “Palestine” to 159 of the 193 UN member states. The announcements came after the UN General Assembly adopted the “New York Declaration,” which supports advancing the two-state solution as the basis for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• The Palestinian Authority welcomed the recognition and called for practical steps which would enable the establishment of the state of “Palestine.” Hamas said that the recognition was the result of the October 7, 2023 attack and the organization would continue with armed “resistance.”^[1] However, Palestinian Internet users doubted that the wave of diplomatic recognition would end the war in the Gaza Strip or improve the humanitarian situation.
• In the United States, the countries that recognized a Palestinian state were condemned, while in Italy and Germany it was called a premature step which would not advance negotiations to end the war and resolve the conflict. According to the Arab world, recognition gave Palestinians hope for realizing their rights.
• In ITIC assessment, adopting the New York Declaration and the additional recognition of a Palestinian state are a cognitive achievement for the Palestinians after the Palestinian issue had been pushed to the sidelines in recent years, and strengthen Hamas’ arguments about the “historical importance” of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack and massacre. However, the actual establishment of a Palestinian state is still in the distant future because of Israel’s control of territory and resources, the weakness of the Palestinian Authority and its support for terrorism, in addition to the security situation in the Gaza Strip and Hamas’ continued terrorist activity. American opposition to the recognition of a Palestinian state and its ability to veto a Security Council resolution to establish a Palestinian state leave the current move at the declarative level.

The Recognition of a Palestinian State

• On September 12, 2025, the UN General Assembly adopted the so-called “New York Declaration” with 142 in favor, ten against and 12 abstentions. The Declaration was approved during the UN conference on promoting the two-state solution, held at the initiative of France and Saudi Arabia on July 28–30, 2025 (UN News X account, September 12, 2025). It called for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on a two-state solution, Israel and “Palestine,” which would be “sovereign and democratic states living side by side in peace and security with recognized and secure borders.” The Declaration included a timeline of about 15 months for implementing the solution, including stopping the fighting in the Gaza Strip and ensuring access for humanitarian aid, dismantling Hamas and removing it from governance mechanisms in Gaza, and granting broad powers to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip and in Judea and Samaria for realizing a sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital (Wafa, July 29, 2025).
• On September 21, 2025, Britain, Canada, Portugal and Australia announced official recognition of a Palestinian state. On September 22, 2025, as part of the conference supporting the two-state solution held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and Andorra also recognized a Palestinian state. French President Emmanuel Macron said that “recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people does not detract from the rights of the Israeli people” and noted that the recognition was intended to prevent worse scenarios, including more civilian deaths, the “expulsion” of Gaza Strip residents to Egypt, the annexation of Judea and Samaria, the death of the hostages or the creation of an irreversible situation on the ground (Reuters, September 22, 2025).
• Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told the joint meeting of the international coalition for implementing the two-state solution held at the UN that the number of countries recognizing a Palestinian state was 159 of the 193 UN member states (al-Arabiya, September 26, 2025).

Palestinian Reactions

The Palestinian Authority (PA)

• Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas delivered a video speech during the conference supporting the two-state solution after the United States administration refused entry visas to senior PA and PLO figures. He praised the countries which recognized and were expected to recognize a Palestinian state and called for supporting the full integration of “Palestine” into the UN. He also called for ending the war in the Gaza Strip and stopping the [alleged] “crimes of the occupation,” claiming that the PA was the only legitimate entity for controlling the Gaza Strip, and that all armed factions had hand over their weapons to enable one unarmed state with one law and a unified security force. He also declared a commitment to hold presidential and parliamentary elections within a year after the end of the fighting and to draft a temporary constitution within three months (Wafa, September 23, 2025).

• At a meeting of foreign ministers held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Muhammad Mustafa, PA prime minister, said that the New York Declaration represented a historic international consensus setting an urgent and irreversible course toward establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security. He called for turning the Declaration into political and practical steps through rapid, decisive, collective action by the international community and claimed that while “Palestine” was committed to peace it could not be based on one side alone. He welcomed the wave of recognitions of a Palestinian state and called on additional countries to join (Wafa, September 26, 2025).
• Mahmoud al-Habbash, advisor to Mahmoud Abbas for religious affairs, said that recognizing the “State of Palestine” had significant political and legal implications, which would change how countries relate to “Palestine,” adding that in turn, it would strengthen its trappings of a state and behave as a state vis-à-vis the world. He added that although the move was symbolic, it immediately changed the balance of power, claiming that more countries now recognized Palestine than Israel and the conflict had become an international issue. He said the two-state solution was not the ideal solution for the Palestinian people, who were forced to “settle” for only 22% of their “homeland,” but they remained in their homeland. He also claimed that Israel’s control over border crossings was illegal and the sanctions it imposed would not break the Palestinian will (RT network, September 25, 2025).
• Omar Awadallah, deputy PA foreign minister for political affairs, said the declarations recognizing a Palestinian state did not impose conditions on the PA. In response to a question about European states constantly demanding reforms from the PA, including elections, he said, “There are countries that came and said ‘we want reform.’ What reform are they talking about? The current government is a reform government. The current Palestinian government’s program is based on improving the financial situation, reform and the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip. The reform exists before anyone comes and demands it of us, and we are implementing reform regardless of anyone. That is a demand of the Palestinian street even more than the rest of the world” (Ultra Palestine website, September 22, 2025).
• Faisal Tahboub, a member of the Palestinian National Council from Jerusalem, said that international recognition of a Palestinian state was important legally because it affirmed the Palestinians’ right to establish a state regardless of current feasibility. He said he believed recognition had to be accompanied by a Palestinian strategy which included declaring a state within the 1967 borders, a “state under occupation,” and then launching a wide legal and diplomatic campaign to demand from the international and Arab communities, an end to the “occupation” and state independence. He said the path to a Palestinian state with international recognition “would not be immediate” and required time, intensive internal and external efforts, and internal Palestinian coordination to ensure a clear, strong position vis-à-vis the international community (BBC Arabic, September 22, 2025).

The Palestinian Terrorist Organizations

• Hamas announced that it welcomed the Declaration and supported the international position which turned a declaration into practical action. However, Hamas reiterated its claim that the “weapon of resistance”^[2] was a “national right” [allegedly] supported by international law until the “occupation” withdrew and an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem [sic] as its capital was established (Hamas Telegram channel, September 23, 2025).
• Osama Hamdan, Hamas figure living in Lebanon, said Hamas would not stop the “military struggle” [terrorist attacks] and claimed recognition of the “State of Palestine” came only as a result of the “resistance” of the people, as expressed in operation al-Aqsa Flood (Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terrorist attack and massacre). He said practical steps were required to stop the “aggression” on the Gaza Strip and some countries wanted to avoid imposing sanctions on the “Israeli occupation” and therefore had chosen the Declaration of recognition of a Palestinian state (al-Mayadeen Telegram channel, September 23, 2025).
• Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy secretary general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), said that recognition of the “State of Palestine” was a “diplomatic defeat” for Israel but wondered “what will happen next?” (al-Jazeera, September 22, 2025).

The Palestinian Street

• France 24’s Jerusalem correspondent Muhammad Farhat reported that in Judea and Samaria there was no great joy following the wave of announcements of recognition of a Palestinian state and that Palestinians he spoke to said that it would not change their lives (France 24 Arabic YouTube channel, September 22, 2025).
• An analysis of dozens of comments from Internet users in the Gaza Strip showed they were pleased by the recognition of a Palestinian state but were deeply concerned that a diplomatic move would not solve the humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Some respondents were happy and relieved by the recognition of a Palestinian state, but many said it was only recognition and not enough, and an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war were needed. Many also said they doubted recognition would change the situation on the ground it was “just words without action” (based on an analysis of dozens of comments by Gaza residents on journalist Hamza al-Masri’s Telegram channel, September 26–27, 2025).

     
Cartoons by Muhammad Sabaaneh, the house cartoonist of the PA’s al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, of the announcements of recognition of a Palestinian state versus reality (Muhammad Sabaaneh’s Facebook page, September 21–25, 2025)

Reactions in the West and Arab States

• Despite the wave of support for a Palestinian state, including from three of the G7 countries (France, Britain, and Canada), the move was criticized by key Western countries, led by the United States, which called it a premature decision which did not contribute to ending the war in the Gaza Strip:
  • The American president, speaking before the UN General Assembly, said recognition of a Palestinian state was a “reward for Hamas” and called on the countries of the world to unite instead in demanding the release of all hostages, dead and alive, in one immediate phase (UN website, September 23, 2025). In a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, he said that French recognition of a Palestinian state encouraged Hamas after the October 7, 2023 attack. Macron claimed that no one had forgotten October 7, but wondered what had been achieved after almost two years of war. He added that “the State of Palestine will be established on the day that the State of Israel recognizes it” (Reuters, September 24, 2025).
  • United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said recognition of a Palestinian state was irrelevant without negotiations with Israel and severely harmed the implementation of agreements in negotiations. He said civilians in the Gaza Strip were suffering because of Hamas’ refusal to surrender, and it was impossible to recognize a Palestinian state while fighting continued (CBC, September 23, 2025; al-Jazeera, September 23, 2025).
  • United States Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack, who is also the administration’s special envoy to Syria and Lebanon, claimed that peace in the Middle East was an illusion and declarations of recognition of a Palestinian state by several countries were a “nice achievement” but were useless in practice. He added that he was not optimistic because there had been about 27 ceasefires in the Middle East and all had failed (The National, September 24, 2025).
  • Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country would recognize a Palestinian state only if all Israeli hostages were released and when Hamas was removed from any governmental role. She added that she was not opposed to recognizing a Palestinian state but that priorities had to be set correctly. She stressed that her right-wing government was one of Israel’s strongest allies in the European Union and therefore refused to join the recognition given by countries such as Britain, Canada and France (Reuters, September 23, 2025).
  • German Foreign Minister Johann Wedepohl said the two-state solution would be found only through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and the process could not be pushed from the outside (Reuters, September 24, 2025).
• On the other hand, the Arab world welcomed the additional recognition of a Palestinian state and hoped that it would increase pressure on Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip and help fulfill Palestinian aspirations for self-determination:
  • Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan called for turning the New York Declaration into an operational mandate with timelines and monitoring mechanisms, adding that declarations were insufficient, only action which changed the situation (Wafa, September 26, 2025). He justified the recognition of a Palestinian state as an act which gave Palestinians hope to live in peace alongside Israel and claimed that non-recognition signaled openness to ideas replacing the two-state solution. He added that America understood that there would be no regional stability without a solution to the Palestinian issue (Sky News Arabic, September 26, 2025).
  • King Abdullah of Jordan told the UN General Assembly that the establishment of a Palestinian state was not a reward for the Palestinians but an indisputable right. He added that security in the region would be achieved only through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel (al-Mamlaka network, September 23, 2025).
  • Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said the two-state solution was the only path to a “just peace.” He warned against the “extremist” Israeli government which was undermining the opportunity. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman called for pressuring Israel to stop the war, ensure broad humanitarian access, and support building political and security foundations for an independent Palestinian state based on international law (Wafa, September 26, 2025).
  • Hezbollah welcomed the recognition of the “State of Palestine” and claimed it strengthened the “struggle.” Hezbollah said recognition had come late and had no immediate effect on the suffering on the ground. It claimed that the world “understood” that the policy of ignoring had failed, and it praised the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and the “resistance”^[3] against a powerful military force (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel, September 25, 2025).
  • An analysis of reactions by citizens from across the Arab world showed that most mixed symbolic joy with deep anger and skepticism. Some respondents welcomed the Palestinian recognition and saw it as important and comforting, although symbolic, but most said that without stopping the war, releasing the hostages and opening the crossings for the entrance of humanitarian aid, the Declaration was empty and meaningless. Many respondents expressed anger and mistrust toward Western countries, especially France, which they claimed had acted out of purely political motives in implementing a move which would not change the situation on the ground and might even worsen it due to the expected Israeli response (based on comments published on al-Jazeera Mubasher’s Facebook page in response to French President Macron’s statement, September 23, 2025).

^[1] Anti-Israel terrorism and violence.
^[2] Anti-Israel terrorism and violence.
^[3] Terrorist organizations.

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