Slovenian government sends proposal for recognition of Palestinian state to Parliament

Slovenia's government has on Thursday supported a motion for recognition of the Palestinian state and has urged parliament to do the same.

Slovenia's prime minister, Robert Golob, said his government has submitted the proposal for recognition of the Palestinian state to Parliament.

The Slovenian Parliament could meet next week and vote the government's proposal.

Parliament reconciliation is needed for the Government's decision to be effective. Golub's liberal ruling party has the majority in Parliament with 90 seats and voting about recognition of the Palestinian state is expected to be a formalisation.

The Slovenian government's decision comes only two days after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognised the Palestinian state. Their attitudes were severely condemned by Israel.

Slovenia would become the 10th European Union country to formally recognise the Palestinian state. Norway is not part of the 27-member bloc, but it usually adapts foreign policies to those of the bloc.

Slovenia launched the process of recognising the Palestinian state in early May, but said it would wait until the situation in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas dealt with the group declared terrorist by the US and the EU.

Golob said this week that he is accelerating the process following Israel's recent attacks on Rafah, as a result of which more than 1 million Palestinians have fled there.

More than 140 countries recognize the Palestinian state of the United Nations over two thirds.

The decision to recognise the Palestinian state has sparked friction in EU relations with Israel. Spain and Ireland are putting pressure on the EU to take measures against Israel because of its continuing attacks on southern Gaza.

Israel began the war in Gaza in response to an attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, where 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and some 250 others were kidnapped.

Israeli war has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, half of whom children and women, according to Palestinian health officials.

But Israeli war has also caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, causing about 80 per cent of the population to shift and hundreds of thousands of people to suffer from hunger, according to UN officials. / REL