CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Two more nations - Australia and New Zealand - have announced that they are considering recognizing a Palestinian state.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a news conference Monday that his government will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
'Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,' Albanese told reporters.
The commitments from the government that rules the Palestinian territory in the West Bank include demilitarizing, general elections and recognizing Israel's right to exist.
'A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,' he added.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said a decision on his country recognizing a Palestinian state would be taken at a cabinet meeting next month.
On Monday, he said in a statement, 'New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if'.
Separately, New Zealand Prime Minister Chrisopher Luxon described the situation in Gaza as an 'absolute human catastrophe.'
With this, the number of nations announcing plan to recognize Palestinian statehood has increased to five, following similar moves by Canada, France and the UK.
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