Belgium said it would sign the New York Declaration, along with France, UK, Canada, Australia, and Saudi Arabia.
The Belgian government said on Sept. 2 it would recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, following similar moves by France, Britain, Canada, and Australia.
“Palestine will be recognized by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions are being imposed on the Israeli government,” Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X.
“Any anti-Semitism or glorification of terrorism by Hamas supporters will also be more strongly denounced,” he added.
Belgium’s announcement came a few hours after Israel launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Sept. 1.
Israel is conducting a fresh offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following the collapse of talks to arrange a cease-fire. Israel says it only targets Hamas, which it accuses of deliberately basing itself in civilian areas.
On Aug. 31 Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli strikes had killed Abu Obeida, who had been the longtime spokesman for Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has killed most of Hamas’s military and political leaders since the terrorist group—which refuses to recognize the Jewish state—launched an attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and abducting 251 people.
Around 50 hostages are still held in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.
Last month, a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an independent group of relief and intergovernmental organizations that monitors global hunger conditions, said food shortages in the Gaza Strip have reached the level of famine.
‘Humanitarian Tragedy’
“In view of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in the face of the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law, and given its international obligations, including the duty to prevent any risk of genocide, Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and the Hamas terrorists,” Prevot wrote on X.
Brussels said it will sign the New York Declaration, along with France, Britain, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries, which Prevot said, “charts the course towards a two-state solution.”
