But as these luxuries return in abundance, he says the essentials are still missing, including basic foods like eggs and vital medicines such as antibiotics.

“Can you imagine that there is chocolate in Gaza while there are no antibiotics? Or there are fruits but no wound dressings or sutures?” Shrafi, a resident of Gaza City, told Middle East Eye.

“Here in Gaza, there is a shortage, or even near absence, of essential items that the human body needs, such as meat, chicken, fish, and eggs, which are basic components of a healthy diet.”

After the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on 10 October, Israeli authorities partially reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southeast Gaza.

For the first time since the Israeli army sealed the borders on 2 March, pushing the Strip into a state of starvation that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, goods and international aid were allowed in.

Alongside some fruits and vegetables, the permitted items included carbohydrates and starches such as wheat flour, semolina, rice, pasta, canned corn, and potatoes; sugar like chocolate, candies, and jam; fats such as butter, processed cheese, and canned cream; and other secondary goods including cigarettes and soft drinks.

However, animal proteins remain largely restricted. Eggs are completely missing, dairy products are mostly unavailable, and frozen chicken and beef are allowed only in very limited quantities, making their prices unaffordable for the vast majority of residents.

For example, when available, one kilogram of frozen chicken now costs around 80 shekels (around $25).

“I don’t feel any improvement in the food situation [after the ceasefire], because the items available in Gaza are unhealthy,” Shrafi said.

“Canned and dried foods cannot replace basic natural foods like eggs and fresh meat. So there is no recovery from the effects of famine.”

Shrafi said that on several occasions, he went from pharmacy to pharmacy in search of certain medicines but could not find them.

“My daughter suffered from an infection in her toe, and I could not even find painkillers to ease her suffering,” he added.

“Antibiotic pills are missing, and if available, they are sold at exorbitant prices far beyond the reach of ordinary citizens, who have been crushed over two years of ongoing extermination.

“Pharmacies, medical supply stores, and hospital departments in Gaza are completely empty of many essential items that patients need.”

'A fraction of what is needed'
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli authorities still impose severe restrictions on the entry of medicines and medical supplies and equipment, even after the ceasefire agreement.

“These persistent restrictions have led to shortages in drugs reaching 56 percent, while shortages in medical consumables are at 68 percent, and laboratory supplies at 67 percent,” said Zahir al-Wahidi, director of the Health Information Unit at Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

“Orthopaedic surgeries face an 83 percent shortage, open-heart surgeries 100 percent, and kidney services and bone fixators 80 percent. The most severe gaps are in emergency services, anaesthesia, intensive care, and medications for surgical procedures.”

Traders and international organisations operating in Gaza must obtain permission from Israeli authorities for the items they can bring into the blockaded Strip.

The restrictions are imposed either through direct orders and lists of banned goods, or indirectly by leaving import requests for certain items pending or denying them outright.

As a result, many essential supplies have been unavailable for more than two years, while other items flood Gaza.

“What has entered over the past year is only a fraction of what is needed, six or seven small shipments that do not cover the requirements for a large number of drugs and consumables, which should cover two years of deprivation,” Wahidi added.

‘Abnormal’ weight gain
Over the past three weeks, dozens of truckloads have entered Gaza, reviving its markets for the first time in months. Hundreds of street vendors now display the vibrant colors of chocolates, various types of coffee, and some fruits.

“Most of these goods consist of carbohydrates, sugars, and starches,” Abdallah Sharshara, lawyer and legal researcher from Gaza, told MEE.

“These include flour and various types of cheese used in sweets and pizza, in addition to sugar and flour derivatives used in confectionery production.

“It is clear that this focus on importing such items indirectly pushes people to rely on them as their main food source, while also forcing humanitarian organisations to focus on purchasing and distributing these products, as they are the only ones available in the local market.”

Sharshara explained that Israeli authorities also create conditions that “discourage traders” from bringing in high-risk products, such as eggs, which may spoil during the long waiting periods.

He noted that Israel is deliberately allowing certain food items into Gaza to “cover up the visible signs of weight loss seen in the population over the past year.

“There is now an abnormal increase in people’s weight. It appears that the Israeli occupation is trying to conceal the crime of starving Palestinians by creating an opposite image, one of rapid and unnatural weight gain,” he said.

Sharshara shared that he personally had lost around 20 kilograms over the past year during Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but is now gaining weight rapidly.

“I had lost weight because of the limited and repetitive food options we were forced to eat throughout the past year,” he said. “Now, I eat the same portions, but they lead to weight gain because I am compelled to consume carbohydrates, processed cheese, and manufactured meat, that’s what’s available.

“They’re forcing us to gain weight systematically.”

In several posts on social media, people in Gaza shared the same impression, noting that they can find different kinds of secondary items, but not the essential items that have been missing for around two years.

“Israel is creating a misleading impression that the blockade on the Palestinian people has been lifted, as people are now eating a lot of pizza and sweets, giving the illusion of comfort or abundance,” Sharshara said.

“Fresh meat and eggs are still banned from entering Gaza, and fishermen are only allowed to fish within a very limited maritime area.

“The goal of allowing goods to enter partially is to prevent anyone from claiming that Israel is blocking them completely. But in reality, when you divide these goods by the actual needs of the population, the per-person share is extremely small.

“That’s why we say that even if Israel allows some goods in, they do not truly reach the people.”

“There is a need for the international community to go in, assess the damage, start thinking about reconstruction, working on reconstruction, and to formally keep the peace,” Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry said. “This is what will significantly shift the whole process from war to the day after.”

According to Ansari, Qatar is hopeful that the UN Security Council will approve a resolution that would “mandate an administration and an international force in Gaza, that we would be able to stabilize the situation.”

“In principle, a lot of the countries in the region and beyond have agreed to be part of this, but in practice that needs a very concrete mandate for the force,” he detailed.

Ansari also addressed the problem of finding the remains of the hostages: “There are a lot of challenges before we are able to dispense with stage one [of the deal]. Including the difficulty of excavating the remains of those [hostages] who were killed and ascertaining their identities, and the violations that result in the death of Palestinians every day at the hands of IDF soldiers.”

Qatar still critical of Israel’s strike on its soil against Hamas
Another topic that Ansari spoke about was the IDF's attempt to assassinate senior Hamas leadership in Doha on September 9.

“It was designed to push us out, not only out of these [Gaza] talks, but to push us out as an internationally trusted mediator,” he said. “We were working on more than 10 mediations on the day of the attack.”

“This was not an attack we could brush off and continue doing the work that we were doing,” he said, and detailed that the US had to ensure that no more attacks would happen on Qatari soil for negotiations to resume.

To secure backing for a ceasefire in Gaza – where Israel has killed at least 88 Palestinians and injured 315 others since it took effect on 10 October – Trump promised his Arab client regimes last month that he would not allow Israel to proceed with annexation, a red line they feared would ignite public anger and jeopardise Washington\'s broader normalisation project in the region.

Israel\'s parliament, however, gave preliminary approval last week to two bills calling for the formal annexation of the West Bank.

Trump\'s vice president, JD Vance, who was in the country to help the Israelis coordinate the next phase of the Gaza genocide, described the vote as \"a very stupid political stunt\" – and one to which he \"personally [took] some insult\".

In an attempt to save face with Washington\'s Arab clients, Trump also dispatched his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to rebuke the Israelis for their ill-timed vote. While en route to Israel, Rubio issued the administration\'s sternest warning yet, saying: \"That\'s not something we can be supportive of right now\" – meaning the Americans would support it later.

A week earlier, Trump struck a similar tone in an interview with Time magazine, insisting that this was not the right time for annexation: \"It won\'t happen. It won\'t happen. It won\'t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can\'t do that now… Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened,\" he said.

The key word in these pronouncements is \"now\". Any apparent dispute between the Americans and the Israelis concerns timing and method, not the objective itself.

Advancing expansionism
Far from opposing Israel\'s expansionist agenda, the Trump administration has long been integral to its realisation.

After all, during his first term, Trump\'s \"peace for prosperity\" plan, authored by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, endorsed Israel\'s designs to annex 30 percent of the West Bank.

Under that proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would move immediately to annex the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements, while generously committing to defer the construction of new settlements in areas left to the Palestinians for at least four years.

Then-US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman signalled that Trump had greenlighted immediate annexation, stating that \"Israel does not have to wait at all\" and that \"we will recognise it\". Trump reiterated his position last February, when he justified annexation by observing: \"It\'s a small country… it\'s a small country in terms of land.\"

It would be ludicrous to think that the Arab regimes truly believe Trump\'s promises. They only pretend to flatter him and play along for the sake of domestic public relations.

Indeed, and to his credit, Trump had already recognised Israel\'s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights in 2019, just as he recognised the illegal Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem in 2017.

Why, then, would he oppose West Bank annexation rather than simply postpone it to a more auspicious time?

In fact, the Israelis are already planning to expand beyond the West Bank, which, like East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, they already consider a done deal. They are now looking to seize more territory from their other Arab neighbours.

Just weeks ago, Netanyahu declared that he was on a \"historic and spiritual mission\" on behalf of the Jewish people, adding that he felt \"very attached to the vision of the Promised Land and Greater Israel\". This vision extends to the entire country of Jordan, as well as additional Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian and Iraqi lands.

Arab countries were quick to condemn Netanyahu\'s vision coveting their territories as future parts of Israel, just as they condemn recent Israeli moves to annex the West Bank. Yet this is little more than a pro forma performance.

The Arab regimes, following European and American orders, have in practice acquiesced de facto in every Israeli annexation since 1948 – and some have even embraced them de jure, as Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Morocco, Sudan and Bahrain did when they recognised Israel\'s 1949 borders, which already encompassed annexed Palestinian land.

Global legitimisation
When Israel was established in 1948, it included half the area allotted by the United Nations for a Palestinian state, as well as West Jerusalem, which was meant to remain under international jurisdiction.

While the UN General Assembly, including the United Kingdom, initially insisted that Israel would only be recognised once it withdrew from these territories in accordance with the 1947 UN Partition Plan, between 1949 and 1950, the Security Council and the UK ultimately recognised the country with its new borders – expanded by conquest far beyond those contained in the 1947 UN Partition Plan – intact.

Israel initially agreed to negotiate with its Arab neighbours over the boundaries of the state, but kept the territories it occupied in violation of UN resolutions, especially those concerning its annexation of West Jerusalem in 1949. It moved its government offices there and declared the city its capital.

The UN, the US and all of Europe recognised Israel\'s annexations de facto, if not de jure, by the early 1950s, and the normalising Arab countries followed suit in later decades.

After all, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat saw no problem in addressing Israel\'s parliament in annexed West Jerusalem during his 1977 visit without a word of protest.

While King Hussein never paid an official visit to West Jerusalem, as his 1994 and 1996 visits to Israel were mainly to Tel Aviv and Lake Tiberias, he did visit annexed West Jerusalem in 1995 to attend the funeral of then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and again in 1997 to meet Israeli families who had lost children when a Jordanian soldier opened fire on them.

It bears mentioning that even before signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1993, Hussein had already conceded Palestinian and Arab sovereignty not only over West Jerusalem but also over East Jerusalem, when he insisted that \"only God has a claim in Jerusalem\" – a statement he would reiterate many times thereafter. The Egyptian and Jordanian embassies, like those of most countries that do not recognise West Jerusalem as Israel\'s capital, remain in Tel Aviv.

This, however, does not mean these countries do not recognise West Jerusalem as part of Israel.

Legacy of conquest
Lest we think that Netanyahu\'s recently announced Greater Israel \"vision\" is a peculiar obsession of his alone, it should be remembered that he has so far conquered few Arab territories and has yet to annex any – unlike his predecessors, from David Ben-Gurion to Menachem Begin, who annexed vast Palestinian and Syrian lands.

Israel\'s avarice for the land of others has always been publicly avowed and on display. After its 1956 invasion and first occupation of Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, Israel\'s founding prime minister, the secular David Ben-Gurion, waxed biblical, claiming that the invasion of Sinai \"was the greatest and most glorious in the annals of our people\". The conquest, he added, restored \"King Solomon\'s patrimony from the island of Yotvat in the south to the foothills of Lebanon in the north\".

\"Yotvat\", the name the Israelis bestowed on the Egyptian island of Tiran, had \"once more become part of the Third Kingdom of Israel\", Ben-Gurion proclaimed.

In the face of international opposition to Israel\'s occupation, he insisted: \"Up to the middle of the sixth century Jewish independence was maintained on the island of Yotvat… which was liberated yesterday by the Israeli army.\" He also declared the Gaza Strip \"an integral part of the nation\". Invoking the prophecy of Isaiah, Ben-Gurion vowed: \"No force, whatever it is called, was going to make Israel evacuate Sinai.\"

When the Israelis were finally forced to withdraw, they bided their time and invaded and occupied these areas again in 1967. Despite Israel\'s final withdrawal from Sinai – whose demilitarisation it demanded – talk of invading and settling the Egyptian peninsula is once again in the air today.

After 1948, the Israelis proceeded with plans to steal all the land in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) along the Syrian border near the Golan Heights. By 1967, they had taken over the area before conquering the Golan itself.

In the first 10 months of this year, Israel expanded its illegal acquisition of Syrian territories with the acquiescence of Syria\'s new US-backed regime, led by the rehabilitated former al-Qaeda and Islamic State member Ahmad al-Sharaa.

The Israelis created yet another \"buffer zone\" on Syrian territory, and just as they did in the DMZ between 1948 and 1967, Israeli Jewish settlers last month crossed into Syrian territory to lay the cornerstone for a new settlement called Neve Habashan, or \"the Oasis of Bashan\", on the newly occupied Syrian territories near Jabal al-Shaykh.

They hail from Israel\'s Uri Tzafon \"Awaken the North\" movement, which aims to settle Syria and southern Lebanon, asserting religious claims to the \"Bashan region\" – the biblical name Jewish expansionists apply to these lands. Last year, the movement sent thousands of eviction notices to residents of Lebanese towns using balloons and drones.

While the Israeli military removed the settlers in Jabal al-Shaykh, it is only a matter of time before official Jewish settlements are established – just as they continue to be built across the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1981, the year after it annexed East Jerusalem.

Annexation continues
In 2002, Israel built its illegal apartheid \"separation wall\" inside the West Bank, de facto annexing 10 percent of the territory, eliciting only pro forma protests from the \"international\" community, including the International Criminal Court.

Israel has also insisted since 1967 on annexing the Jordan Valley bordering Jordan – another 10 percent of the West Bank – a move that Trump\'s 2020 \"peace\" plan approved.

American and European acceptance, and in some cases sponsorship, of such territorial expansions is no different from their endorsement of Trump\'s more recent Gaza plan, which foresees Israel directly and indefinitely occupying more than half of Gaza\'s territory.

The Arab regimes, as much as Europe and the US, know very well that Israel\'s annexation of the West Bank will proceed apace, even if it is tactically delayed. And this will be done with the actual blessings of the \"international community\" – albeit accompanied by the usual pro forma protests – with the Arab regimes (save Jordan, for its own national security reasons) at the forefront.

Rubio was explicit on this point: \"At this time, it\'s something that we… think might be counterproductive\" and \"potentially threatening for the peace deal\" – but clearly not at a later time, when it could be \"productive\" and \"potentially\" conducive to peace.

Indeed, the UN Human Rights Office just released a report documenting the complicity of dozens of countries – mostly European, but also Arab – in Israel\'s ongoing genocide. The Washington Post likewise revealed that several Arab states have upgraded their military cooperation with Israel during the genocide, including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.

When Palestinians resist this international support for Israel\'s continued colonisation, settlement, occupation and annexation of their homeland, all these countries will feign surprise, while openly or covertly abetting the next phase of Israel\'s genocide, just as they have done for the past two years. And as ever, they will do so in the name of \"Israel\'s right to defend itself\".

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

After months of rumors and internal pressure, Abbas, who will celebrate his 90th birthday in November, is signaling that he is finally planning his political path, or at least wants to shape the terms of his exit from it.

The man who, for 30 years, represented the "sane hope" for both Israelis and Palestinians, who, in 2012, was lauded at the UN General Assembly for the international community's recognition of a Palestinian state, is now celebrating a birthday as the Palestinian arena stands at its most paramount crossroads since 1967, perhaps even since 1948.

On the one hand, the Palestinian issue is back in the center of global consciousness. Dozens of countries, including key European and South American states, have officially recognized a Palestinian state. Hundreds of thousands are marching weekly in cities and capitals worldwide, calling for justice and an end to the occupation.

That said, there is another side. The Gaza Strip has been desolated after two years of a war of destruction, the West Bank is dismembered into Israeli-controlled areas and Palestinian society is deeply divided.

After everything the Palestinian people have experienced on both fronts, the factions, or their remnants, with an emphasis on Fatah and Hamas, remain locked in power struggles, the current leadership's legitimacy in general appears more fragile than ever, and the Palestinian public struggles to consider it as a genuine avenue for a political future.

Senior Palestinian Authority sources say that, for months, Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Arab states and Western countries to conduct thorough reforms, which would reach as far as Fatah and the presidential desk itself. In this context, he promoted Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Secretary General Hussein al-Sheikh, as vice president.

Under the new constitutional declaration, al-Sheikh will fill the position of Palestinian Authority president for a period of up to 90 days in the event that Abbas cannot perform his duties, with the option of a one-time extension if elections cannot be held on time. Abbas also restored former foreign minister and Yasser Arafat's nephew Nasser al-Qudwa to Fatah's ranks.

Several questions crop up at this point: Is this an act of voluntary retirement or forced retirement due to Abbas' age and condition? Is al-Sheikh – who is considered very close to the president but lacks a broad popular base of support, let alone in Gaza – the man who can lead the Palestinian Authority to free elections and restore its legitimacy? Will such elections be held at all, and when?

Palestinian political history teaches that numerous "temporary" steps have become permanent: from the emergency in the Palestinian Authority, through the division between the West Bank and Gaza, to the PLO's administrative structures. This time too, people fear that the current announcement is mainly a symbolic act intended to regulate the issue of inheritance, not to solve it.

Beyond that, there are numerous political landmines: assuming that elections will be held, will they also be for the Palestinian Authority's Legislative Council? Will Hamas be eligible to participate? Will Israel allow voting in eastern Jerusalem? Each of these questions can delay the process by months or years.

Abbas' announcement also came amid reconciliation talks in Cairo between representatives of the Palestinian factions – Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other organizations, including representatives of exiled Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan's movement.

Hussein al-Sheikh and the head of Palestinian Intelligence, Majed Faraj, are also participating in discussions. The talks, being held under growing Egyptian pressure, have not yielded to date any agreement on a clear political outline for the future. A senior Palestinian official said of the current status of discussions, "The car is running, but is in neutral – a lot of meetings and talks, but nothing concrete."

Meanwhile, on the ground, the occupation is spreading and the settlements are growing and the daily reality in the West Bank increasingly resembles de facto annexation. The two-state solution remains a hollow slogan as the Palestinian political system is rushing toward an unprecedented inheritance crisis.

It's possible that Abbas' constitutional announcement on Sunday was intended to display order and stability. In practice, more than anything else, it reflects the depth of the uncertainty. Is this a step before an orderly retirement, or a last attempt to anchor his camp's control on the day after, without really knowing what is left to rule over?

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-10-27/ty-article/.premium/palestinian-president-abbas-signals-retirement-but-vies-to-keep-fatah-in-control/0000019a-255b-dcd3-abdb-ad7f847f0000

After months of rumors and internal pressure, Abbas, who will celebrate his 90th birthday in November, is signaling that he is finally planning his political path, or at least wants to shape the terms of his exit from it.

The man who, for 30 years, represented the "sane hope" for both Israelis and Palestinians, who, in 2012, was lauded at the UN General Assembly for the international community's recognition of a Palestinian state, is now celebrating a birthday as the Palestinian arena stands at its most paramount crossroads since 1967, perhaps even since 1948.

On the one hand, the Palestinian issue is back in the center of global consciousness. Dozens of countries, including key European and South American states, have officially recognized a Palestinian state. Hundreds of thousands are marching weekly in cities and capitals worldwide, calling for justice and an end to the occupation.

That said, there is another side. The Gaza Strip has been desolated after two years of a war of destruction, the West Bank is dismembered into Israeli-controlled areas and Palestinian society is deeply divided.

After everything the Palestinian people have experienced on both fronts, the factions, or their remnants, with an emphasis on Fatah and Hamas, remain locked in power struggles, the current leadership's legitimacy in general appears more fragile than ever, and the Palestinian public struggles to consider it as a genuine avenue for a political future.

Senior Palestinian Authority sources say that, for months, Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Arab states and Western countries to conduct thorough reforms, which would reach as far as Fatah and the presidential desk itself. In this context, he promoted Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Secretary General Hussein al-Sheikh, as vice president.

Under the new constitutional declaration, al-Sheikh will fill the position of Palestinian Authority president for a period of up to 90 days in the event that Abbas cannot perform his duties, with the option of a one-time extension if elections cannot be held on time. Abbas also restored former foreign minister and Yasser Arafat's nephew Nasser al-Qudwa to Fatah's ranks.

Several questions crop up at this point: Is this an act of voluntary retirement or forced retirement due to Abbas' age and condition? Is al-Sheikh – who is considered very close to the president but lacks a broad popular base of support, let alone in Gaza – the man who can lead the Palestinian Authority to free elections and restore its legitimacy? Will such elections be held at all, and when?

Palestinian political history teaches that numerous "temporary" steps have become permanent: from the emergency in the Palestinian Authority, through the division between the West Bank and Gaza, to the PLO's administrative structures. This time too, people fear that the current announcement is mainly a symbolic act intended to regulate the issue of inheritance, not to solve it.

Beyond that, there are numerous political landmines: assuming that elections will be held, will they also be for the Palestinian Authority's Legislative Council? Will Hamas be eligible to participate? Will Israel allow voting in eastern Jerusalem? Each of these questions can delay the process by months or years.

Abbas' announcement also came amid reconciliation talks in Cairo between representatives of the Palestinian factions – Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other organizations, including representatives of exiled Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan's movement.

Hussein al-Sheikh and the head of Palestinian Intelligence, Majed Faraj, are also participating in discussions. The talks, being held under growing Egyptian pressure, have not yielded to date any agreement on a clear political outline for the future. A senior Palestinian official said of the current status of discussions, "The car is running, but is in neutral – a lot of meetings and talks, but nothing concrete."

Meanwhile, on the ground, the occupation is spreading and the settlements are growing and the daily reality in the West Bank increasingly resembles de facto annexation. The two-state solution remains a hollow slogan as the Palestinian political system is rushing toward an unprecedented inheritance crisis.

It's possible that Abbas' constitutional announcement on Sunday was intended to display order and stability. In practice, more than anything else, it reflects the depth of the uncertainty. Is this a step before an orderly retirement, or a last attempt to anchor his camp's control on the day after, without really knowing what is left to rule over?

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-10-27/ty-article/.premium/palestinian-president-abbas-signals-retirement-but-vies-to-keep-fatah-in-control/0000019a-255b-dcd3-abdb-ad7f847f0000

El-Sissi urged Trump to support a Gaza reconstruction conference Egypt is planning to host next month.

El-Sissi, whose government has served as a key mediator in ceasefire talks, also said Egypt is working to ensure that bodies of hostages in Gaza are found and handed over to Israel, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“This is a day of profound hope and joy for the entire free world, and a day only possible under the leadership and strength and fortitude of President Donald J. Trump,” he said.

Johnson added that “they’re all talking about it around the world with this historic achievement” and that Trump “has accomplished what others have only talked about or even tried and failed.”

“Time and again, President Trump is demonstrating that America’s strength delivers and ensures peace for freedom-loving people around the world. As we’ve said so many times, it’s the perception of a strong America that really holds the terrorists and tyrants at bay,” Johnson said.

They join Canada, Australia and Portugal, as well as the United Kingdom, which announced its recognition on Sunday, as Israel pushes ahead with settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and escalates its genocide in Gaza.

The UK’s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state comes more than 100 years after the Balfour Declaration backed “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine.

“In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and of a two-state solution,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a video statement Sunday.

The declarations by major Western powers – long considered close allies of Israel – underscore its growing international isolation amid a war on Gaza which has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians.

Which countries now recognise Palestine?
Currently, the State of Palestine is recognised as a sovereign nation by 157 of the 193 UN member states, representing 81 percent of the international community. In addition, it is recognised by the Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, which holds UN non-member observer status.

These countries are listed in the table below:

What does recognition mean?
Recognising Palestine strengthens its global standing, boosts its capacity to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their occupation, and increases pressure on Western powers to work towards a two-state solution. Specifically, it would allow Palestinians to:

Open embassies with full diplomatic status
Engage in trade agreements
Gain support at international forums
Approach the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Recognition will not:

End the war in Gaza
Stop Israel’s brutal military occupation.
While recognition has little immediate effect on Israeli policy in the occupied territory, it does reflect a surge of international backing for Palestinian statehood.

Martin Griffiths, director of Mediation Group International, told Al Jazeera the recognition of Palestine is only a first step.

“This is the entry point, but it’s not the end point,” he said, urging countries such as the UK to uphold their obligations under the International Court of Justice by facilitating humanitarian aid, ending arms sales and easing blockades.

He added that governments must also support reforms to make the Palestinian Authority “fit for purpose”, noting efforts by France, Saudi Arabia, Norway and Spain.

“It brings hope … but it doesn’t necessarily bring a future yet,” Griffiths said.

Together with Mexico, these countries marked 11 new recognitions in 2025 and the 20th since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, reflecting a growing wave of international recognition for Palestine.

Israel’s reaction
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, described the UN summit on Palestinian statehood as a “circus” and said moves to recognise Palestine “reward terrorism”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that message in his reaction to Sunday’s recognition of Palestine by the UK, saying it was a “prize” for Hamas.

He added that a Palestinian state “will not happen”.

A brief history of Palestinian recognition
On November 15, 1988, during the first Intifada, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), declared the establishment of an independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

More than 80 countries quickly extended recognition, largely from the Global South – including nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world. Most European recognitions at the time came from states within the former Soviet bloc.

On September 13, 1993, the Oslo Accords marked the first direct negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, envisioning a Palestinian state alongside Israel. That outcome, however, never materialised.

In 2012, the UNGA voted overwhelmingly – 138 in favour, 9 against and 41 abstentions – to upgrade Palestine’s status to a “non-member observer state”. This means that Palestine cannot vote on resolutions, but it can attend meetings and participate in debates.

Only the five permanent members of the UNSC – US, Russia, China, France and the UK – hold veto power. They gained this status in 1945 as the major victors of World War II. This allows any one of them to block a resolution, regardless of wider international support.

On April 18, 2024, the US vetoed a widely supported resolution in the General Assembly that would have granted Palestine full UN membership, blocking the upgrade despite broad international backing.

The US has a long history of vetoing UNSC resolutions critical of Israel, having done so at least 50 times since joining the UN. This consistent use of the veto has often prevented measures addressing Israeli military actions, illegal settlements or the occupation of Palestinian land from being adopted.

More states, including France and Portugal, are expected to recognise Palestine in the coming days after the announcements on Sunday.

Israel has responded in recent days by doubling down.

Shortly before the announcement, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the PM had called the act “absurd and simply a reward for terrorism”.

At an event in occupied East Jerusalem on September 15, Netanyahu promised his supporters that there “will be no Palestinian state”.

While this act by the three states – Canada, the UK and Australia – grabbed the world’s attention and many headlines, analysts tell Al Jazeera that it is a small, symbolic step in the ongoing indignity, murder and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, albeit it one with some weight.

“Recognition matters in this case because close US allies have so far reserved it until the day after a negotiated agreement,” Rida Abu Rass, a Palestinian political scientist, told Al Jazeera.

“It matters because these countries broke ranks. In terms of its impact, Israel finds itself further isolated, and I think that’s meaningful.”

On the same day as recognition was announced, at least 55 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza on Sunday. At least 37 of them were killed in Gaza City, where the Israeli army has unleashed another brutal campaign of violence.

Performative recognition?
Analysts have expressed scepticism that recognition might improve the material conditions of Palestinians currently suffering under Israeli aggression.

Israel has killed at least 65,283 people and wounded 166,575 in its war on Gaza since October 2023; figures that are thought by many experts to be much higher. During the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel, 1,139 people died, and another 200 or so were taken captive.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military and violent settler attacks have killed more than 1,000 people, as the Israeli government threatens to completely annex the entire territory.

Israel’s war, which both Israeli and international experts and human rights groups call a genocide, is not expected to subside after Sunday’s actions, analysts said.

“As long as it doesn’t come with concrete actions, such as sanctions, arms embargo, and the implementation of a no-fly zone in occupied Palestine with a coalition of forces from the international community to alleviate the suffering of the people, I remain pessimistic,” Chris Osieck, a freelance researcher who has contributed to investigations from Forensic Architecture and Bellingcat on Palestine and Israel, told Al Jazeera.

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the move is mainly performative.

“I think they’re under increasing pressure from the international community and also from their local populations to do something,” he said.

“This is, I think, their way of doing something or saying that they did something without actually taking substantive action.”

Still, recognition does mean that the three countries can now enter into treaties with the Palestinian government and can name full ambassadors.

For its part, the UK will recognise Husam Zomlot as the Palestinian ambassador to the UK.

Zomlot said in a statement that the “long-overdue recognition marks an end to Britain’s denial of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, freedom and independence in our homeland”.

“It marks an irreversible step towards justice, peace and the correction of historic wrongs, including Britain’s colonial legacy, the Balfour Declaration and its role in the dispossession of the Palestinian people,” he said.

Joining international organisations
Much of the world already recognises the State of Palestine.

The recent additions mean that only the United States, a handful of European and Baltic states, South Korea, Japan, and a few other states do not recognise Palestine.

However, even with most of the world on board with Palestinian statehood, the country is still not a full member state of the United Nations.

“[Recognition] brings no new UN privileges, nor does it enable Palestine to become a member of new intergovernmental institutions – not without US support,” Abu Rass said.

“Palestine is currently a ‘non-member observer state’,” he explained. “To become a full member would require the recommendation of the UN Security Council [followed by UN General Assembly vote] – unlikely, to say the least, given US veto powers.”

Still, it could be a first step.

International pressure has intensified on Israel to end its war on Gaza, particularly from Europe. Boycott campaigns are gaining momentum that could see Israel expelled from Eurovision and participation in international sporting competitions.

And the European Union has recently discussed increasing tariffs on some Israeli goods and applying sanctions to some Israeli leaders.

“Recognition has no direct impact on Israel’s actions in Gaza, but it may signal these countries’ willingness to take real measures, which would have a direct impact on Israel’s actions in Gaza, such as two-way arms embargos – meaning, neither selling weapons to Israel, nor buying weapons from Israeli manufacturers,” Abu Rass said.

Leaders ‘saving face’
Analysts told Al Jazeera they believe some Western states, despite discussing Palestinian recognition for months, are taking the step as a punishment for Israel’s aggression on Gaza and the occupied West Bank. This is bolstered by conditional support for statehood expressed by some states.

They say that these leaders are responding to myriad domestic pressures in their own countries, including pressure from pro-Israel groups with ties to establishment parties, at the same time that a growing chorus of constituents is calling for state action and penalties to stop genocide.

“This is happening now because of growing domestic pressures on these centre-left governments,” Abu Rass said.

“Nothing changed, per se [but] what we’re seeing is a slow, cumulative reaction to a low simmer – a growing liberal disaffection – and these steps should be seen as a low-cost way to satisfy constituents’ demands.”

“They’re saving face,” Abu Rass added.

In July, the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would recognise Palestine unless Israel took “substantive steps” to end its war on Gaza.

On Sunday, Starmer reiterated that recognition comes as a response to the political realities in Israel and Palestine today.

“This is intended to further that cause,” Starmer said on Sunday. “It’s done now because I’m particularly concerned that the idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years.”

Australia also made its recognition conditional, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying: “Further steps, including the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of embassies, will be considered as the Palestinian Authority makes further progress on commitments to reform.”

A special burden
One hundred and eight years ago, the British government signed the Balfour Declaration, declaring its support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in the land of Palestine.

The United Kingdom has been a historical ally for the state of Israel against the Palestinians, so recognition of the state is also, to some, a recognition of the UK’s complicity in the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians.

“Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said during a speech at the UN in July.

Despite the historic symbolism, analysts were not convinced that the future would break from the last 100 years.

“Even if Palestine is recognised by every country in the world, little would change for Palestinians unless the Israeli occupation is dismantled,” Abu Rass said.

“International pressure has a role to play here, but it needs to move further than mere recognition, including sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties, the prosecution of war criminals, and cultural boycotts.”

The men, aged about 20 and 60, were wounded on Thursday at the Israel-controlled crossing and later pronounced dead, the service said in a statement.

Israel’s military said the attacker was travelling in a humanitarian aid truck from Jordan and began shooting. Security forces returned fire and “neutralised” the assailant, the military added. Israeli media reports suggested the perpetrator may have used a knife to stab the victims after his gun malfunctioned.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Jordanian foreign ministry said the attacker was a Jordanian national wh had been delivering aid to Gaza for three months.

After the attack, Israeli forces conducted searches in the area and “encircled” the nearby West Bank town of Jericho, the military said.

Jordan’s government-run Petra news agency reported passenger traffic had been suspended at the crossing “after its closure from the other side”.

The Israeli foreign ministry blamed the attack on Jordan, saying it was “yet another result of the vile incitement in Jordan”.

Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned the attack as a “violation of international law”.

The King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, a vital trade crossing between Jordan and Israel, was previously the site of an attack in September 2024 when a gunman from Jordan killed three Israeli border workers. The crossing was subsequently closed for two days.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, described the crossing as a “highly secured place” and said the latest attack raises questions about how an armed assailant managed to get through “unnoticed”.

She added that the bridge is the only crossing through which most Palestinians may travel abroad because they are unable to travel from Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport and are not allowed by Israel to build an airport in the West Bank or Gaza.