‘It’s better to be late than not at all’: The Palestinian Minister said British recognition of the state would be a ‘brave step’ | World News

Britain will take “Bold Steps in a very difficult time” by officially recognizing the Palestinian state, according to the Foreign Minister of the Authority, who told Sky News that he believed the announcement – expected in the next few days – would inspire more countries to follow it.

Palestinian Foreign Minister, Varsen Aghabekian, told me the British move “It is better to be late than not at all”, and said “Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to move forward and admit, because it is the right thing to do”.

But he also said he was “very angry” with the White House because of “unrodged support” for Israel, and said that Israel’s rejection to continue tax revenue encourage Palestinian civil society to the threshold of “collapse”.

Aghabekian spoke as England, together France, Canada And Australia, Preparing to recognize the state of Palestine officially at the United Nations.

He told me: “Britain has supported the existence and growth of Israel for some time, but I think today the British see this problem objectively, in terms of people’s rights, in terms of complying international law, and in the future of this region for Israel and Palestine.”

He rejected the idea that recognizing Palestine was a gift for Hamas’s terrorism, saying that “uncredited” will also be a “gift for extremists” and say that “If we wait until Israel decides it wants to negotiate with Palestine, then that will not happen”.

Aghabekian tells me Gaza To be returned to Palestine, but I told him that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was empowered by diplomatic support he received from America, and in particular, US President Donald Trump.

So is he angry with the White House? “Very angry, because I hope the White House and the United States are in harmony with international law, with human rights, by not having double standards.

“Unwavering support for Israel, this blind support, not only endangers Palestine but also the people of Israel.”

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Palestinian state has been recognized by three -quarters of the UN member. It consists of two separate areas – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Together, they are officially known as occupied Palestinian territories.

The West Bank has been worn by the Israeli military occupation since 1967, while Gaza has been attacked by Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when nearly 1,200 Israel was killed and around 250 people were held hostage.

Since then, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza because Israel has tried to destroy Hamas and restore hostages. There are 48 hostages still in Gaza, with 20 believed to be still alive.

He confirmed to me that Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian authority, governed the West Bank, “has given a guarantee in a letter to various leaders around the world who said Hamas would not be part of the Gaza Strip Governance” and insisted there were “maybe consensus throughout the world” on the topic.

But he also insisted that “it doesn’t make sense” to talk about Hamas’s full elimination: “Hamas is an ideology, not the building you dropped. Hamas is in the minds of people; in their heads.

“Those who support Hamas need to see the future, need to see something that moves at the political level, it is necessary to see that there may be a situation where their children and grandchildren might be prosperous.

“What people see today, whether they support Hamas or not, they see darkness and they see destruction throughout. They see violations of rights. They are helpless and desperate.

But when Palestine prepared to welcome recognition, Aghabekian said the West Bank faced financial collapse when Israel continued to hold hundreds of millions of tax revenue dollars which, under the 30 -year -old agreement, he gathered on behalf of the Palestinian authority.

Israel has maintained the proportion of money since the beginning of the war in Gaza, but, driven by Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, recently holding a much higher amount.

“People have not been paid, civil servants only receive a small portion of their salaries. We cannot buy medical inventory, equipment, just call it,” said Aghabekian.

“How can the government run the country in such conditions? So yes, we are very worried.”