Dublin, May 22 : Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said on Wednesday that the country would recognise Palestine as a state.

“Today Ireland, Norway, and Spain are announcing that we recognise the state of Palestine; each of us will undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision,” Harris said in Dublin, the Irish capital.”I am confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks,” he said.

The Irish prime minister said the country believes that “permanent peace can only be secured on the basis of the free will of a free people.”

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring the most appalling suffering, hardship, and starvation,” he said. “A humanitarian catastrophe, unimaginable to most and unconscionable to all, is unfolding in real time.”

UNI