His team of experts UN today asked all countries to recognize one Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East.

The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state, angering Israel, which is increasingly isolated on the international stage after eight months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the recognition of a Palestinian state would be an important recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom and independence.

This recognition “is a condition for sustainable peace in Palestine and throughout the Middle East – starting with the immediate declaration of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and no further military operations in Rafah,” the experts stressed.

“The two-state solution remains the only path, agreed upon by the international community, to peace and security for both Palestine and Israel and an exit from the generation-long cycle of violence and enmity,” they added.

The aim of the decision by Spain, Ireland and Norway was, they explained, to speed up efforts to reach a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The three countries indicated that they hope their decision will prompt other EU countries to do the same. Denmark’s parliament rejected a proposal to recognize a Palestinian state.

Israel has condemned attempts to recognize a Palestinian state, complaining that doing so would strengthen Hamas, which on October 7 launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.