Luxembourg has recognized Palestine!

Luxembourg will join several countries in a bid to recognize a Palestinian state at a UN summit in New York next week. The country’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel told a parliamentary commission that Luxembourg plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this month.

French President Emmanuel Macron is leading the push to recognize a Palestinian state as international condemnation of Israel’s nearly two-year-old Gaza campaign grows. “The situation has deteriorated significantly in recent months. Now, a movement is building in Europe and around the world that proves that the two-state solution is still relevant,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden told reporters.

“This is why the Luxembourg government wants to join the effort to recognize a Palestinian state at the conference on the two-state solution next week.” Britain, Australia, Canada and Belgium are also planning to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly.

But Israel and its ally the United States have strongly criticized the move. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, UN investigators accused Israel of carrying out a genocide aimed at destroying Palestinians in Gaza and said top Israeli officials, including the prime minister, played a provocateur role in the incident.

The incident is likely to create new tensions over international diplomacy and the future of the Middle East peace process.