Belgium declared its plan on Tuesday to recognize a Palestinian state, aligning with other recent similar statements.
Maxime Prévot, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, conveyed that the recognition—subject to specific conditions—will be reaffirmed at the upcoming , set to commence in New York on Sept. 9.
This recognition is scheduled to be formally enacted “through a royal decree,” but only after “the final hostage has been freed” and Hamas ceases all forms of territorial governance.
Prévot further pledged that “significant penalties will be levied against the Israeli government” and “any acts of antisemitism or the endorsement of terrorism by Hamas proponents will face more stringent prosecution.”
“This initiative is not aimed at penalizing the Israeli populace, but rather at ensuring adherence to international and humanitarian law by its government, with the aim of fostering an improvement in the situation on the ground,” Prévot elaborated.
The Deputy Prime Minister stated that a total of 12 sanctions would be enacted against Israel, its government, and goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The sanctions additionally encompass “designating as ‘persona non grata’ within our nation two extremist Israeli ministers, several violent settlers, and Hamas leaders,” Prévot noted, opting not to name the two Israeli ministers referred to.
TIME has contacted both the Belgian and Israeli Foreign Ministries to request their statements.
In June, the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom jointly moved to against Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a firm supporter of , citing “ and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir criticized Belgium for its expressed intention to acknowledge a Palestinian State.
“The sanctimonious European nations, being swayed by Hamas—eventually they will encounter terrorism personally,” Ben-Gvir is cited as the Associated Press.
Belgium indicated that its decision stemmed from “the violence perpetrated by Israel in breach of international law” and also from “considering its international responsibilities, including the imperative to avert any risk of genocide.”
On Monday, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) issued a resolution asserting that Israel’s “,” referencing “Article II of the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
Israel has consistently rejected allegations of genocide throughout the Israel-Hamas war, asserting its right to self-defense. Israel’s Foreign Ministry the IAGS resolution, labeling it “a disgrace to the legal profession and any academic standard.”
“It is wholly founded on Hamas’ deceptive campaign and the legitimization of those falsehoods by other parties,” asserted spokesperson Oren Marmorstein.
Israel is presently contesting at the International Court of Justice, having been accused by South Africa in December 2023 of perpetrating genocide against the Gaza population.
Belgium’s declaration also emerges amidst increasing global apprehension concerning the in Gaza. A U.N.-supported food security organization recently verified that for the initial time since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas war.
On Tuesday, activist Greta Thunberg and several others embarked once more for Gaza aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla , aiming to deliver humanitarian assistance to the region.
, Tunisia’s capital, to rendezvous with other vessels en route to Gaza. Thunberg and fellow activists were in June and subsequently expelled after their prior attempt to access Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas conflict began following a terror assault by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in over 1,200 fatalities and approximately 250 individuals taken hostage. More than 63,000 Palestinians have died since the war commenced, with 361 of those fatalities attributed to “starvation and malnutrition,”
Lacking independent on-site verification, the ministry serves as the main provider of casualty figures utilized by humanitarian organizations, journalists, and global entities. Its statistics do not distinguish between civilians and combatants and are not independently verifiable by TIME. Information from the IDF indicates a .