STRASBOURG – The European Parliament approved on Thursday a resolution calling on EU member states to “consider recognising the State of Palestine, with a view to achieving the two state solution”.

While the Parliament has supported the “in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood” in the past, this new resolution seems to be a more direct call on national governments to act.

The resolution was approved with 305 votes in favour, 151 against and 122 abstentions. According to Italian Socialist MEP Nicola Zingaretti, the result was the outcome of thorough negotiations among the political groups on various amendments.

The vote was long and tense, and members of the Parliament even asked for a pause to check the amendment votes on Gaza, before proceeding to the final vote on the resolution as a whole.

Another contentious point in the resolution was the use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The wording “genocidal actions” was eventually rejected and excluded from the text. – Euronews