SYDNEY — An Australian minister said Thursday that Canberra recognizing a Palestinian state was just a matter of time, days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he wasn’t planning to imminently make such a move.
“It’s a matter of when, not if, Australia recognizes a Palestinian state… but I don’t want to put a time frame on it,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers told public broadcaster ABC, adding that the treatment of hostages and any involvement of terror group Hamas in a future Palestinian state remained major obstacles for Australia.
Albanese himself said Thursday that he had discussed the crisis in Gaza with his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, and reiterated his government’s strong support for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
Starmer this week said Britain was planning to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly — unless Israel ended the Gaza war and committed to peace — in response to growing public anger over the reports of starving children in Gaza. Israel denies that there is famine in the enclave and blames UN agencies for not distributing aid supplies that are waiting at the border.
Before Starmer’s announcement, France said it would recognize a Palestinian state at the GA, leading to speculation that a wave of other countries would follow it. Canada did so on Wednesday.
Australia has not yet made a formal decision to recognize Palestinian statehood, though Albanese supports Israel’s right to exist within secure borders and Palestinians’ right to demand their own state.
In a statement, Albanese said he and Starmer agreed on the importance of using international momentum to secure a ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and the acceleration of aid to the devastated enclave. They also want to ensure that Hamas, which rules Gaza, does not play a role in a future Palestinian state.
“What we will continue to do is to put forward a principled position consistent with our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution,” Albanese said at a press briefing. “In an immediate sense, we continue to call for a ceasefire. We continue to call for hostages to be released. We continue to say that Hamas can have no role in a future Palestinian state, and we continue to call for aid to be allowed to the people of Gaza.”
Earlier this week, Albanese said that Israel had “quite clearly” breached international law during the war in Gaza, but also said his country does not plan to “imminently” recognize a Palestinian state.
Israel has criticized France, Britain and Canada, saying their decision rewards Hamas for its October 7, 2023, devastating attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted as hostages to the Gaza Strip, where 50 remain in captivity, more than half believed no longer alive.