Category: 2. World

Major European powers have said they could recognise an independent Palestinian state in coming weeks. What would that mean for the Palestinians and Israel?

What is the status of Palestinian statehood now?

The Palestine Liberation Organization declared the independence of a Palestinian state in 1988, and most countries in the global South quickly recognised it. Today, 147 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognised a Palestinian state, most recently Mexico in January 2025.

Israel’s main ally the United States has long said it intends to recognise a Palestinian state eventually, but only at the end of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel on an agreed “two-state solution”. Until recent weeks, this was also the position of the major European powers. Israel and the Palestinians have held no such negotiations since 2014.

A delegation officially representing the State of Palestine has permanent observer status but no voting rights at the United Nations. No matter how many individual countries recognise Palestinian independence, full UN membership would require approval of the Security Council, where Washington has a veto.

Palestinian diplomatic missions worldwide, including the mission to the UN, are controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which is recognised internationally as representing the Palestinian people.

The PA, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited self rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank under agreements with Israel. It issues Palestinian passports and runs the Palestinian health and education systems.

In the Gaza Strip, administration has been under the control of the Hamas group since 2007, when it drove out Abbas’s Fatah movement, although the PA still funds many salaries.

Who is promising to recognise Palestine and why?

Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have all said they will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.

The countries say these moves are intended to put pressure on Israel to end its assault on Gaza, curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and recommit to a peace process with Palestinians.

French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to endorse recognition, has said the move would be accompanied by a commitment by the PA to enact reforms, which would improve Palestinian governance and make the PA a more credible partner for the post-war administration of Gaza.

What has recognition meant in practice?

Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia and many Arab states that have recognised Palestinian independence for decades.

Without a full seat at the United Nations or control of its own borders, the Palestinian Authority has only limited ability to conduct bilateral relations. There are no missions with the status of embassies in Palestinian territory, and countries cannot freely send diplomats there.

Israel restricts access for trade, investment and educational or cultural exchanges. There are no Palestinian airports. The landlocked West Bank can be reached only through Israel or through the Israeli-controlled border with Jordan, and Israel controls all access to the Gaza Strip.

Still, countries planning recognition and the PA itself say it would be more than an empty gesture.

While Western countries considering recognition have not made explicit commitments to provide additional funding to the PA, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, said recognition could lead to strategic partnerships.

“We will stand at equal footing,” he told Reuters, adding that every avenue will be pursued “to bring an end to the insanity and to the mistakes of the past”.

Recognising Palestinian independence could also require countries to review aspects of their relationships with Israel, said Vincent Fean, a former British consul general to Jerusalem.

In Britain’s case, this could result in steps such as banning products from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, he said, although such moves could also be seen as “symbolic in that sense that those goods are a pinprick in the overall size of the Israeli economy”.

How have Israel and the United States reacted?

Israel, facing a global outcry over its conduct in the Gaza war against Hamas, has reacted angrily to recognition gestures, which it says would reward the Palestinian resistance group for the October 2023 attacks that precipitated the war.

After decades during which Israel was formally committed to a peace process ending in Palestinian independence, Israel is now run by the most far-right government in its history, including parties who say their mission is to make it impossible for the Palestinians ever to gain a state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will never give up ultimate security control of Gaza or the West Bank.

The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognise Palestinian independence. It has responded by imposing sanctions on Palestinian officials, including denying and revoking visas which will block Abbas and other PA figures from attending the UN General Assembly in New York.

Through AP’s support, he secured $10,000 in funding to purchase professional tents, sleeping bags and stoves, moving from improvised to structured services. Sunny Hostel has now begun working with tour operators such as OshTrips and Visit Alay, and involves young people: students volunteer as city guides to practise English before moving into jobs in tourism. “Sustainability is not just a word for us. We want to preserve nature, avoid artificial experiences and focus on real culture,” he says.

Local entrepreneurs, lasting impact

Other entrepreneurs have followed similar paths. Support from AP helped Meergul Karakozueva plan her project, set prices and establish a yurt camp in the Alay mountains. In 2019, she received two yurts and a solar panel that remain central to the camp. Electricity was added only recently, and water supply is the next priority. She later expanded her business by opening the Art Hotel in Osh city, and in 2023 received in-kind technical assistance (washing machine, built-in dishwasher, steam generator) after pitching at the Women CUP incubation programme.

Baktybek Nuridinov and his friends began by leading informal tours in Osh, introducing friends and visitors to Kyrgyz landscapes and culture. As demand grew, they joined AP’s acceleration programme, receiving training, mentorship and financing. This support helped them move from “amateur to professional tourism”, expand their tours, hire more guides and improve service quality, turning Around.kg. into a rising force for community-based travel in the region.

From high-altitude domes and mountain cottages to yurt camps, hostels and locally led tours, these and other entrepreneurs supported by AKDN are transforming the Kyrgyz mountains. Their ventures are creating jobs, preserving cultural heritage and offering lasting opportunities for communities in some of the country’s most remote regions.

A crowded ferry boat has capsized in Nigeria’s Niger State, drowning at least 32 people, rescuers said on Thursday, raising the toll from the country’s latest fatal boat tragedy.

The vessel, which had nearly 100 men, women and children on board, reportedly hit a tree stump.

It capsized on Tuesday morning on the Malale River in the North Central region of the country, Red Cross representative Abubakar Idris told AFP.

“The cause was attributed to overloading and collision with a tree stump,” the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said.

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Raising an earlier toll, SEMA said 32 people were known to have died.

“After a thorough search and rescue operation, our men at Borgu (local district) have discovered three more bodies.

“Eight (people) are still missing and 50 survivors have been rescued,” SEMA representative Abdullahi Baba Arah told AFP.

Search operations are continuing, he added.

The passengers were travelling by river to the village of Dugga, around 15-20 kilometres (nine to 12 miles) away to pay their respects to someone who had died a few days earlier, rescue services said.

It reportedly hit the tree stump and capsized near the village of Gausawa.

Accidents are common on Nigeria’s busy rivers, often caused by overloaded boats, poor maintenance or failure to comply with safety regulations.

In late August, a boat carrying around 50 people overturned in the northwestern state of Sokoto, killing three people. Twenty-five others are missing, presumed dead.

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A month earlier, six young girls drowned when the boat taking them home from a day’s work in the fields overturned in the middle of a river in northern Jigawa State.

Police said the boat was travelling in the dark, the water level was high and there were strong winds. Security regulations were not followed and the passengers did not have life jackets.

Israel has rejected a statement from Hamas saying the armed group is ready for a “comprehensive deal” to end the Gaza war and free all its hostages.

“This is more spin by Hamas that has nothing new,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

It insisted the war would end only once the 48 hostages – 20 of whom are believed to be alive – were released, Hamas was disarmed, Gaza was demilitarised, Israel had security control, and an “alternative civilian administration” was established.

Hamas reiterated its call for a deal that would see hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, Israeli forces withdraw, border crossings reopened, and the start of reconstruction.

The group also said it agreed to the formation of an administration run by independent technocrats to govern post-war Gaza.

It issued the statement on Tuesday evening, hours after US President Donald Trump wrote on social media: “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!”

Last month, Hamas said it had accepted a plan from regional mediators Qatar and Egypt that would see 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages released during a 60-day truce in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.

Israel has yet to formally respond to the proposal – a decision that Egypt said on Tuesday reflected “a complete absence of Israeli will for de-escalation and achieving calm and peace”.

The proposal was said by Qatar to be “almost identical” to an earlier one from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which Israel accepted but Hamas rejected, partly because it did not include a guarantee that the temporary ceasefire would lead to a permanent one.

Netanyahu announced Israel’s intention to conquer all of Gaza after indirect negotiations with Hamas on Witkoff’s proposal broke down in July.

The prime minister said the military’s objectives were to defeat Hamas and free its hostages after 22 months of war triggered by the group’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Hamas now had to choose between accepting Israel’s terms or seeing Gaza “become the equivalent of Rafah and Beit Hanoun”, which have been largely flattened by Israeli bombardment and demolitions. The Israeli military was “preparing in full force”, he warned.

The hostages’ families are concerned that they will be endangered by the looming offensive to capture and occupy Gaza City, and want the government to instead immediately agree a deal that would secure their release by ending the war.

“The manoeuvring in Gaza City poses a real threat to the hostages, both the living and the deceased who could disappear forever,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum warned.

“Calls for a comprehensive agreement are coming from both sides – we demand: sit down at the negotiating table now and don’t get up until a deal is signed.”

In recent days, the Israeli military has intensified air and ground assaults on the outskirts of Gaza City, which it has said is a Hamas stronghold and declared a “dangerous combat zone”.

Hospitals said at least 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on the city on Thursday, and that 15 others were killed elsewhere in the territory.

Medics said two people were killed in one strike on a tent at a camp for displaced families in western Gaza City, close to al-Shifa hospital.

At the scene, Somaya Mikdad held up a pack of nappies that she said belonged to one of the victims – a pregnant woman.

“The woman was getting ready for the baby… It was her [due] month,” she told Reuters news agency. “What is their fault? Is it a war against Hamas or a war against the people?”

The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency meanwhile said that eight people were killed in a strike that hit four homes in the north-eastern Tuffah neighbourhood.

The UN’s humanitarian office has warned that a further intensification of the Israeli offensive will “push civilians into an even deeper catastrophe” in Gaza City, which is home to one million people and where a famine has been declared.

According to the UN, aid groups say the hostilities are having “horrific humanitarian consequences” for people living in displacement sites in “deplorable and overcrowded” conditions, with debris and waste accumulating, widespread rodent and insect infestations, and inadequate water supplies.

Since 14 August, more than 82,000 people have been newly displaced, many of whom have previously fled neighbouring North Gaza governorate, the UN says. Most have moved towards the coast and only a third have left for the south, as the Israeli military has instructed.

Many families say they are unable to move due to high costs and a lack of safe space.

Others are unwilling to leave after being displaced repeatedly during the conflict.

“This time, I am not leaving my house. I want to die here. It doesn’t matter if we move out or stay. Tens of thousands of those who left their homes were killed by Israel too, so why bother?” said Umm Nader, a mother of five from Gaza City.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,231 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry also says 370 people, have so far died during the war as a result of malnutrition and starvation, including three over the past 24 hours.

The restrictions come after the social media giants failed to meet state registration requirements, says government.

Nepal’s government has said it will shut off access to major social media platforms, including Facebook and X, after they failed to comply with authorities’ registration requirements.

The move, announced on Thursday, is part of what the government says is an effort to curb online hate, rumours and cybercrime.

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Companies were given a deadline of Wednesday to register with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and provide a local contact, grievance handler and person responsible for self-regulation – or face shutdown.

“Unregistered social media platforms will be deactivated today onwards,” ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur told AFP.

Communications and IT Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said, “We gave them enough time to register and repeatedly requested them to comply with our request, but they ignored [this], and we had to shut their operations in Nepal.”

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, YouTube parent Alphabet, X, Reddit, and LinkedIn were asked to register by Wednesday’s deadline.

AFP reported that the platforms remained accessible on Thursday.

‘Directly hits fundamental rights’

The online restrictions follow a 2023 directive requiring social media platforms – which have millions of users in Nepal with accounts for entertainment, news and business – to register and establish a local presence.

Only five, including TikTok and Viber, have since formally registered, while two others are in the process.

Bhola Nath Dhungana, president of Digital Rights Nepal, said that the sudden closure shows the “controlling” approach of the government.

“This directly hits the fundamental rights of the public,” Dhungana said. “It is not wrong to regulate social media, but we first need to have the legal infrastructure to enforce it. A sudden closure like this is controlling.”

Nepal has restricted access to popular online platforms in the past.

Access was blocked to the Telegram messaging app in July, with the government citing a rise in online fraud and money laundering.

In August last year, Nepal lifted a nine-month ban on TikTok after the platform’s South Asia division agreed to comply with Nepali regulations.

Governments worldwide, including the United States, European Union, Brazil and Australia, are also tightening oversight of social media and big tech, citing concerns over misinformation, data privacy, online harm and national security. India has mandated local compliance officers and takedown mechanisms, while China maintains strict censorship and licensing controls.