Palestinians celebrate West’s recognition in rallies across West Bank

Crowds of people rally in the West Bank, waving flags and holding posters of Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas to celebrate the wave of recognition by Western powers of a Palestinian state.

Nationalist slogans blare from loudspeakers across the central square in the city of Ramallah, where a crowd of more than 100 clutched Palestinian and European flags alongside signs reading “stop the genocide.”

High-ranking officials from Abbas’s political movement, Fatah, and the Palestinian Authority — which exerts limited control in the West Bank — shake hands and smile.

“This recognition is a first step in a process that we hope will continue,” Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of Fatah’s central committee, tells AFP.

“It is the result of more than a century of resistance and determination by our people.”

Rajoub says he had felt moved listening to the speeches made at the UN General Assembly in New York the night before.

“We must learn from the past and unite the people,” he says.

Maysoon Mahmud, 39, who is also a Fatah member, says: “We came here today to thank the countries that have recognized Palestine, but also to ask them to continue to support us in stopping the war.”

“It is time for the world to take responsibility,” she adds.

Further north in Tulkarem, dozens more gathered, holding the flags of countries that now recognize a Palestinian state.

A majority of European powers now recognize a Palestinian state, following official declarations on Monday by France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and others, after nearly two years of war in Gaza and soaring violence in the West Bank.

A day earlier, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Portugal also took the step.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.