Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced on Wednesday that the Irish government formally recognized the state of Palestine as a show of "unequivocal support for a two-state solution" to the Israel-Hamas conflict. He expressed confidence that other countries will make the same decision, as Spain and Norway have already promised to do next week.
Harris said Ireland recognized Palestine "because we believe in freedom and justice as fundamental principles of international law and because we believe that permanent peace can only be secured upon the basis of a free will of a free people." He also sent a message to Israel that Ireland "condemns the barbaric acts carried out by Hamas" on October 7, 2023, but stressed that Hamas "is not the Palestinian people."
