Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state rewards Palestinians' "struggling for self-determination" — not Hamas, according to the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister.
"What has been rewarded is the plight of the Palestinians," Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told SBS News.
"Non-recognition by Australia and others, if it continued, would have only rewarded the extremists in the Israeli government."
After Nine newspapers on Tuesday reported a statement from Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef praising Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's plan for Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood, the Opposition criticised the government's move.
The Opposition leader, Sussan Ley, reiterated on Thursday the reaction from the militant group, which is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia, shows "you [the government] have got it wrong".
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash has said the decision will "embolden Hamas".
Following Albanese's announcement of the plan for Palestinian statehood recognition, Israel's ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon said "peace is built by ending terror, not rewarding it."
"By recognising a Palestinian state while Hamas continues to kill, kidnap and reject peace, Australia undermines Israel's security, derails hostage negotiations, and hands a victory to those who oppose coexistence."
On Thursday, Hamas released another statement praising the government's move. Albanese dismissed the comments in a press conference, adding he "won't be a cheer squad for Hamas and for its statements".
"We need to isolate Hamas, but we do need to find a way forward. There's 147 countries that have already recognised Palestine," he said.
"Hamas will engage in propaganda because what is happening is the international community are united about isolating Hamas ... What I'll do is say that Hamas should be isolated and everyone in political life, in Australia, should be a part of that."
Ley announced on Tuesday the Coalition would revoke the recognition of Palestinian statehood if it wins the next election.
"The Coalition would have never made this call, and we do not agree with it. A Coalition government would only recognise a Palestinian state at the conclusion of a proper peace process," she said in a joint statement with Cash.
We are 'all for what Australia wants'
Albanese's announcement on Monday that Australia would join the UK, France, and Canada in recognising a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September has been welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which governs Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank.
"Australia looked at the whole situation in the context of international law, compliance with international law, standing for the rights of people for self-determination," Aghabekian Shahin said.
"We hope this momentum of recognition and the push by various countries coming in, especially towards the New York conference, will bring that momentum and will influence, in one way or another, United States foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel-Palestine."
Albanese has said the decision was "predicated" on the commitments Australia received from the Palestinian Authority, which includes a demilitarised Palestine and recognising Israel’s right to exist peacefully and securely, with the Palestinian Authority conducting elections, implementing governance reforms, and excluding any role for Hamas.
"A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during a press conference on Monday. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Aghabekian Shahin said the authority was all for "what Australia wants".
"Australia wants to see a forward-looking Palestine that is built on democratic principles that uses best practices and so forth. And this is our demand," she said.
"We have committed that we will reform and develop so that we become on par with other states of the world, including conducting elections on the entirety of the occupied territory."
We want to see a 'demilitarised Palestinian state'
On the condition of a demilitarised Palestinian state, Aghabekian Shahin said the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, has "put it clearly in his letters to leaders of the world, that what we want to see in the future is a demilitarised Palestinian state".
The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli bombardment since Hamas's attack on 7 October 2023, which resulted in more than 1,200 deaths, including an estimated 30 children, and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has turned much of the enclave into a wasteland, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians and leading the UN to warn of the imminent risk of famine.
With Hamas still in power in Gaza, Aghabekian Shahin said: "The guarantees will take place once there is cessation of fire in Gaza, once the humanitarian assistance starts pouring into the starving people in Gaza, and once the Palestinian Authority is enabled to govern in Gaza."
'Light at the end of the tunnel'
Aghabekian Shahin mentioned that Hamas could become a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a Palestinian nationalist coalition recognised as the official representative of the Palestinian people, if they "subscribe to the mandate of the PLO, to the vision of the PLO and to the peace agreement between the PLO and the state of Israel".
However, she said there is "no direct contact" with Hamas.
The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and 1995, which mark the peace agreement between the PLO and Israel, established a framework for a two-state solution and included mutual recognition and the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli government, however, has dismissed the role of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's has announced plans to take over Gaza City as well as outlining principles for "concluding the war". These include the creation of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas’s stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.
Hamas in its entirety is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and seven other countries, including Australia. But the UN Assembly rejected classifying Hamas as a terrorist group in a 2018 vote.
In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories dating back to 2014, including the recent attacks of both Israel and Hamas.
