Australia would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday.
“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he told reporters in Canberra. “Until Israeli and Palestinian statehood is permanent, peace can only be temporary.
“Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own. We will work with the international community to make this right a reality,” he said.
Photo: AP
The Israel-Hamas war, raging in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.
At least 145 of the 193 UN members recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, including France, Canada and the UK.
“There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it,” Albanese said.
Australia’s decision was predicated on reassurances from the Palestinian Authority that there would be “no role for the terrorists of Hamas in any future Palestinian state,” he said.
However, the Palestinian Authority does not have a presence in Gaza, which has been governed by Hamas for about two decades.
Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the decision was symbolic, rather than “genuine progress towards peace.”
“Let us be clear: this decision will not change the reality on the ground,” Maimon said in a statement on social media. “Australia elevates the position of Hamas, a group it acknowledges as a terrorist organisation, while weakening the cause of those working to end violence and achieve genuine, lasting peace.”
Just hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized international calls to recognize Palestinian statehood, saying it would “not bring peace, it will bring war.”
“To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it and buy this canard is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful,” he said.
International concern is growing about the plight of the more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where the fighting has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis and warnings of mass starvation.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,430 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the UN says are reliable.
Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official figures.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
RSS