TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Belgium moves toward recognising Palestinian state, drawing Israeli rebuke
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....elgium moves toward recognising Palestinian state, drawing Israeli rebuke<BR>PTI News<BR>Dated:- 2-9-2025<BR>PTI<BR>Brussels, Sep 2 (AP) Belgium will move toward recognising a Palestinian state, the country's foreign minister said Tuesday, joining a growing list of countries preparing to take the step as Israel steps up its offensive in Gaza. Maxime Prevot said Belgium's plans to recognise a Pal....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....estinian state will be announced at the United Nations General Assembly on September 9. However, the acknowledgment is predicated on two conditions — the return of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the removal of Hamas from political power in the coastal exclave. The conditions make it unlikely the recognition will be formalised anytime soon. The announcement marks the latest sign of int....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ernational support for a Palestinian state, and would add Belgium to a list of more than 140 countries to recognise Palestinian statehood, including more than a dozen in Europe. Prevot on Tuesday also announced plans to ban goods coming from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and designate Hamas leaders, violent settlers, and two far-right Israeli ministers as persona non grata. “This is n....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ot about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground,” Prevot said on social platform X. Prevot said the European Union should increase more pressure on Israel by suspending ties with the country, including its trade pact known as the Association Agreement. I....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....srael's war in Gaza has stressed ties within the bloc's 27 nations, ignited protests across the continent, and frayed political coalitions including in Belgium and its neighbour the Netherlands. But despite growing political tension, Israel's deep ties with European military, business and academic institutions remain largely intact. Belgium's announcement sparked fury from Israel's far-right nat....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ional security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who, along with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, is a likely target of the new sanctions. “The self-righteous European countries that are being manipulated by Hamas — at the end they'll discover terrorism on their own flesh,” Ben Gvir said in a statement to The Associated Press. France and the United Kingdom have both announced plans to recognis....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e Palestine, putting added diplomatic pressure on Israel. Australia, Canada and the European countries moving toward statehood recognition have predicated the step on the Palestinian Authority making reforms. But the body is deeply unpopular among Palestinians and is seen as corrupt and incapable of governing effectively. Israel has opposed granting it a larger role in postwar Gaza. The Palest....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....inians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel's government and most of its political class have long opposed Palestinian statehood and now say it would reward militants after Hamas' October 7 attack. (AP) GRS GRS<BR> News - Press release - PIB....