Australia will recognize a Palestinian state in September: PM

Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday, adding that the situation in Gaza has gone “beyond the world’s worst fears”. “Until Israeli and Palestinian statehood is permanent, peace can only be temporary,” he told reporters. “Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own.” Australia is among several western countries who have announced they will recognize Palestinian statehood, leading to condemnation from Israel. Mr Albanese said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a civil solution was needed, “not a military one” and that the discussion had been “civil”.