Ireland will recognize Palestinian statehood by the end of May

Ireland will certainly recognize Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the country's foreign minister said, without specifying a specific date, AFP reported.
"We will recognize the state of Palestine before the end of the month," said Michel Martin, who is also Ireland's deputy prime minister.
In March, the leaders of Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta issued a joint statement saying they were ready to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Ireland has long maintained that it has no objection in principle to formal recognition of a Palestinian state if it could help the Middle East peace process.
But Israel's war in Gaza has given new impetus to this issue.
Last week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Spain, Ireland and Slovenia plan to symbolically recognize a Palestinian state on May 21. It is possible that other countries will follow suit.
Martin declined to give a specific date.
"The specific date has not yet been set because we are still in the process of discussing with some countries regarding the joint recognition of a Palestinian state. In the next few days, the specific date will become clear, but it will certainly be before the end of this month." , Martin said.
"I will look forward to consultations today with some foreign ministers regarding the final concrete details of this matter," he added.
Last month, during Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's visit to Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the countries would coordinate the move together.
"When we take action, we would like to do it together with as many other countries as possible to give weight to the decision and send the strongest message," Harris stressed.
The Gaza war followed Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-ruled territory. /BGNES