A child, part of crowds of displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, rides southward in a vehicle packed with personal belongings, after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip, September 21, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week were taking an irreversible step that preserved the two-state solution and brought Palestinian independence and sovereignty closer.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining other nations in a move aimed at reviving momentum for a two-state solution but which has been criticized by Israel and the United States.

“Now is the time. Tomorrow is a historic date we need to build on. It’s not the end,” Shahin told reporters in Ramallah.

“It is a move bringing us closer to sovereignty and independence. It might not end the war tomorrow, but it’s a move forward, which we need to build on and amplify,” she said, referring to Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign in Gaza.

NETANYAHU SAYS THERE WILL NEVER BE A PALESTINIAN STATE

Israel has sharply criticized the step, with some ministers dismissing it as irrelevant, saying it does not change the realities on the ground. Others have insisted that a Palestinian state can only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month declared there would never be a Palestinian state.

Shahin said that Israel had no intention of negotiating, citing Netanyahu’s remarks at a ceremony this month to build a new settlement in the West Bank that would cut off northern Palestinian communities from those in the south.

“This recognition is certainly not symbolic. It is a practical, tangible, irreversible step that countries must take if they are invested in preserving the two-state solution,” Shahin said.

France and Saudi Arabia have led efforts to revive momentum for the two-state solution, with several countries to recognize a Palestinian state this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has dismissed the efforts as a stunt and counterproductive. Israeli officials have hardened their positions on settlement construction and West Bank annexation as international momentum for Palestinian statehood has grown.

Israel has faced growing diplomatic isolation this year, as many of its closest allies, with the exception of the US, have condemned its assault on Gaza. Some have sanctioned Israeli ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians.

Shahin said political pressure on Israel must shift to economic measures “to hold Israel accountable and protect the Palestinian people.”

“Today, Gaza burns. Today, Gaza is destroyed. Today in Gaza, people are systematically murdered,” Shahin said, accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies.