The United States has told other counties that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
“We told all these countries, we told them all, we said if you guys do this recognition stuff it's all fake, it's not even real, if you do it you're going to create problems,” Rubio said from Quito, where he met with President Daniel Noboa and his Ecuadorean counterpart, according to Reuters.
“There's going to be a response, it's going to make it harder to get a ceasefire and it may even trigger theses sorts of actions that you've seen, or at least these attempts at these actions,” Rubio said, adding he would not opine on Israeli discussion of annexation of the West Bank but that it was not final.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The countries say these moves are intended to put pressure on Israel to end its assault on Gaza, curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and recommit to a peace process with Palestinians.
French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to endorse recognition, has said the move would be accompanied by a commitment by the Palestinian Authority to enact reforms, which would improve Palestinian governance and make the PA a more credible partner for the post-war administration of Gaza.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
Without a full seat at the United Nations or control of its own borders, the Palestinian Authority has only limited ability to conduct bilateral relations. There are no missions with the status of embassies in Palestinian territory, and countries cannot freely send diplomats there.
