Recognising a Palestinian state rewards Hamas

One of my first memories of Hamas, during the time of the Oslo Accords, was at school when we were told that Purim celebrations were cancelled because a Hamas suicide bomber had blown himself up killing Israeli children in their Purim costumes.

As a young adult, I grieved when Hamas bombed the Dolphinarium night club in Tel Aviv during the Second Intifada. Now as a mother, sheer devastation for how Hamas brutally slaughtered 1200 people including men, women and children – many in their own homes – on October 7, capturing 250 hostages.

Twenty hostages out of the fifty who remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza are believed to be alive, held in inhumane conditions. We have seen footage of Evyatar David starving while digging his own grave in a dark tunnel, but my Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has decided to reward Hamas with a state.

Forget that “Palestine” does not meet the requirements for statehood under international law under the Montevideo Convention: defined territory and government control. Forget that the Palestinian Authority – firstly under Yasser Arafat, and then Mahmoud Abbas – already rejected peace offers from Israeli leaders in 2000, 2001 and 2008 that would have given them a state.

What the Australian Government has done is a send a clear message to Hamas that all of its bloodshed and violence has been worth it. Senior Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad said as much earlier this month, telling Al Jazeera that the international move towards Palestinian recognition was due to “the fruits of October 7”. It is a lesson other terrorist groups will watch closely.

Albanese claims Hamas won’t have a future role in a Palestinian state – how can he assure that? Australia has called for elections in the Palestinian territories – how can he know Palestinians will not choose a radical Islamist group that seeks the elimination of Israel to lead it, whether or not it is called Hamas?

After Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas kicked out the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip in 2007. Up until 2023, Gaza existed without an Israeli presence and operated more as a de facto Palestinian state than the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank. Rather than investing in infrastructure and improving the lives of its citizens, Hamas spent its time, money and aid on a long-held dream to destroy Israel – which it attempted to implement on 7 October 2023.

As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has commented, France’s announcement of its plans to recognise a Palestinian state ended the ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Rubio said in an interview, “If I’m Hamas, I’d basically conclude: ‘Let’s not do a ceasefire, we can be rewarded, we can claim it as a victory’.”

Australia can now add its name to the reasons why ceasefire negotiations have collapsed. Albanese has turned his back on the Israeli hostages. In making the announcement, Albanese said that Australia would like to see the return of the hostages but it appears not to be an essential requirement for Palestinian recognition. He could have said, “Return the hostages, then Australia will consider recognition of a Palestinian state.”

The international community has failed to put adequate pressure on Hamas to release the hostages, particularly as the terror group’s leaders call the shots from Turkey and Qatar.

Responsibility for this mess also rests with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last Friday, the security cabinet voted to approve a proposal from Netanyahu to occupy Gaza City. The decision sparked fierce criticism abroad and within Israel with thousands protesting, concerned that it would deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and endanger the hostages and soldiers. It also went against the views of IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and security officials who warned against Netanyahu’s plans to expand the occupation of Gaza.

In failing to make a convincing case to Western nations of the need to continue the conflict, Netanyahu is turning Israel into a pariah, where even its once friends are no longer supporting it – such as Germany who said it will no longer provide Israel with arms.

Netanyahu has also failed to provide the international community a vision of hope for Gaza that they can get behind after so much devastation. Many in the West are convinced that Netanyahu has given into the ambitions of his far-right ministers to occupy the Strip in order to save his leadership. Recently, Netanyahu said he would turn the Strip over to an Arab coalition not the Palestinian Authority, but this plan may have come too late.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is clearly challenging, and many western nations have decided that this conflict can no longer continue. The Palestinian people should live in peace and with dignity, and in their own state when the conditions are right.

But recognising a Palestinian state now before preconditions are met for peace and statehood and before the hostages are home, is not the answer, and will likely be a disaster.

Sharyn Kolieb is editor-at-large at The AJN.