GENEVA: A group of United Nations experts called on Monday for all countries to recognise a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East.

The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state, prompting anger from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after nearly eight months of aggression in Gaza.

The experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recognition of a Palestinian state was an important acknowledgement of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle towards freedom and independence.

“This is a pre-condition for lasting peace in Palestine and the entire Middle East beginning with the immediate declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza and no further military incursions into Rafah,” they said.

“A two-state solution remains the only internationally agreed path to peace and security for both Palestine and Israel and a way out of generational cycles of violence and resentment.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

With their recognition of a Palestinian state, Spain, Ireland and Norway said they sought to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

The three countries say they hope their decision will spur other European Union states to follow suit. Denmark’s parliament later rejected a proposal to recognise a Palestinian state.

Israel has repeatedly condemned moves to recognise a Palestinian state, saying they bolster Hamas.

Gaza structures

Some 55 per cent of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since war erupted in the Palestinian territory eight months ago, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN.

The analysis showed more than 137,000 buildings affected, UNOSAT, the United Nations satellite analysis agency, said on X, formerly Twitter.

The estimate is based on a satellite image taken on May 3, and compared with images taken in May a year earlier, last September, and on October 15 — just over a week after October 7 raid. The fresh satellite image was also compared to images taken during several dates in November, then again during the first months of this year, UNOSAT said.

“According to satellite imagery analysis, UNOSAT identified 36,591 destroyed structures,” the agency said in a statement. In addition, it said it had seen “16,513 severely damaged structures, 47,368 moderately damaged structures, and 36,825 possibly damaged structures for a total of 137,297 structures”.

“These correspond to around 55pc of the total structures in the Gaza Strip and a total of 135,142 estimated damaged housing units,” it said. UNOSAT said the image comparisons showed the governorates of Deir Al-Balah, in the centre, and Gaza, in the north, had suffered the worst damage between April 1 and May 3.

Comparing satellite images on those dates indicated that an additional 2,613 structures had been damaged in Deir Al-Balah, while another 2,368 had been damaged in Gaza governorate in just over a month. Within Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat municipality suffered the greatest number of newly damaged structures during that period, at 1,216, UNOSAT said. The agency stressed that the findings were still part of a preliminary analysis, which had yet to be validated in the field.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024