By Tass

Copyright tass

MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. Israel has gradually begun to lose ground in Europe, with increasingly more countries moving toward recognizing Palestinian statehood, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS.

“Israel has begun losing its relations with Europe and even with the US,” the envoy said, commenting on a UN commission report. “We are confident that European countries, Australia, and Canada will begin recognizing Palestine because they see what is really happening. Israel is losing its relations on every front,” he added.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France intends to hold a conference at the UN on September 22 on the issue of recognizing Palestine, regardless of the hostilities in Gaza and other decisions by the Israeli government. On July 29, the office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement saying that London would recognize the statehood of Palestine before the UN General Assembly session if Israel continues to block the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and does not end its military operation in the enclave. On July 24, Macron said that Paris would recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly session.

Palestine is recognized by 148 UN members. Palestinian embassies and permanent missions operate in 95 countries. The Soviet Union, Russia’s predecessor, recognized the State of Palestine in 1988.