Luxembourg decides to recognize Palestine as independent state
Photo: Luxembourg foreign minister Xavier Bettel (Getty Images)
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel told a parliamentary committee that the country intends to recognize the State of Palestine, according to Politico.
According to local media, the final decision on recognition is expected to be taken at the end of September during the UN General Assembly in New York. It would come in coordination with several other countries, including France and Belgium.
In this way, Luxembourg would join a growing list of Western states planning to recognize Palestine as a state as early as next week.
The statements by Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel were made after months of government hesitation and amid mounting calls from European leaders for Israel to end the war in Gaza.
Recognition of Palestine as independent state
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France intended to recognize Palestine as a state.
That same month, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also expressed such intentions, but presented the move as conditional on Israel ending the war in Gaza.
Starmer said Britain would recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September if the Israeli government failed to take meaningful steps to end what he described as the horrific situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to long-term peace.
Other countries have also signaled plans to recognize Palestine.
Meanwhile, on the night of August 16, Israel launched a ground operation aimed at seizing Gaza City. Axios sources said the US supported the operation but wanted it to be carried out swiftly and concluded as soon as possible.
