Slovenia set to speed up Palestinian state recognition

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob says his government will decide on the recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday and forward its decision to parliament for final approval.

Slovenia launched the recognition procedure earlier this month, and Golob has been under pressure to speed up the process since Spain, Norway, and Ireland announced they would go ahead with recognition.

Meanwhile, Germany has joined a chorus of criticism of Israel following the deaths of dozens of civilians when an airstrike seemingly set off a fire in a tent camp for displaced people, with its foreign ministry calling for a swift investigation.

“The images of charred bodies, including children, from the airstrike in #Rafah are unbearable,” Berlin says on X.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto warns strikes like the Rafah attack, which targeted and killed two senior Hamas terrorists, will have long-standing repercussions. “Israel with this choice is spreading hatred, rooting hatred that will involve their children and grandchildren. I would have preferred another decision,″ he tells SKY TG24.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares says Spain and other countries asked EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell “to provide a list of what measures the European Union could apply” to make Israel heed a World Court ruling appearing to order a halt to military action in Gaza, and explain what the EU has done in the past in similar circumstances “when there has been a flagrant violation of international law.”