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Report: Ireland, Spain Could Recognize Palestinian State on May 21

Protesters gather and hold Palestinian flags inside a subway during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians, in Mexico City, Mexico May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Protesters gather and hold Palestinian flags inside a subway during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians, in Mexico City, Mexico May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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Report: Ireland, Spain Could Recognize Palestinian State on May 21

Protesters gather and hold Palestinian flags inside a subway during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians, in Mexico City, Mexico May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Protesters gather and hold Palestinian flags inside a subway during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians, in Mexico City, Mexico May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Ireland, Spain and a number of other European Union member states are considering recognizing a Palestinian state on May 21, according to a report by Ireland's national broadcaster.
According to Reuters, RTE News on Wednesday evening said contacts between Dublin and Madrid, and between Slovenia and Malta, had intensified with a view to the countries jointly recognizing Palestinian statehood.
According to the report, the countries have been waiting for a vote by the United Nations General Assembly on May 10 which could lead to the recognition of Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member.
In a joint statement on March 22, Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia said they had agreed to take the first steps towards recognizing a Palestinian state.
Spain and Ireland have long been champions of Palestinian rights. The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israel's offensive to rout out Hamas prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region.
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
Israel has said that the four countries' plan constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.

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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.