While Israel is pounding Beirut with airstrikes, European, Arab and Islamic nations have launched an initiative to strengthen support for a Palestinian state and its institutions, and prepare for a future after the war in Gaza and escalating conflict in Lebanon, Norway’s foreign minister said on Friday (September 27, 2024).

Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s foreign minister, told The Associated Press, “there is a growing consensus in the international community from Western countries, from Arab countries, from the Global South, that we need to establish a Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government, a Palestinian state — and the Palestinian state has to be recognized.”- AP