ALL countries should recognise Palestinian statehood to ensure peace, a group of United Nations experts said today.

The independent authorities on human rights urged all countries to join the 146 nations that already recognise the state of Palestine and to use all political and diplomatic resources to help bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

They said the recognition was an important acknowledgement of the rights of the Palestinian people and “a precondition for lasting peace in Palestine and the entire Middle East.” 

“A two-state solution remains the only internationally agreed path to peace and security for both Palestine and Israel and a way out of generational cycles of violence and resentment,” the experts added.

The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised Palestine as a state.

Israel has repeatedly condemned moves to recognise Palestinian statehood, asserting that they bolster Hamas, the Islamist group whose deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the current Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The conflict has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry — about 30 times more than the 1,200 death toll of the October 7 attack, in which more than 250 hostages were also taken.

But a ceasefire in the fighting still seems a long way off, with Israel insisting that Hamas has no place in a future Gaza. 

Far-right Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has called for the complete destruction of Hamas and the occupation of the Palestinian enclave: “Only one way to victory: the destruction of Hamas and the occupation of the Gaza Strip.” 

Mr Eliyahu argued against last year’s ceasefire deal with Hamas, which led to hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being exchanged for dozens of Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Israel was looking into establishing a new administration for Gaza.

Mr Gallant, a member of Israel’s three-person war cabinet who recently urged the government to create a detailed post-war plan for the devastated coastal territory, told a briefing that “we seek a governing alternative to Hamas.”

He insisted that Israel “will not accept the rule of Hamas at any stage in any process aimed at ending the war.”

Mr Gallant’s comments came at a time of new uncertainty in the eight-month war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing pressure from many Israelis to accept a new ceasefire deal proposed by US President Joe Biden, while his far-right allies are threatening to bring down the government if he does.