Mohammad Elmasley, a professor at the Doha Graduate Institute of Research, said Western leaders are acting under pressure to “see to do something” while avoiding measures that directly challenge Israel.
“This is how they say they did something without actually taking any substantive actions,” he told Al Jazeera.
Elmasley argued that Western countries could impose real costs on Israel by closing airspace and reducing economic and diplomatic ties or pushing peacekeepers and flight zones.
“There are all sorts of things that can hurt Israel and force it to…the final end of genocide,” he said.
He wondered why perceptions are being treated as decisive when more than 140 countries already recognize Palestine but not affecting the ground.
“Israel essentially made the possibility of a Palestinian state completely impossible,” Elmasley added.
British deputy prime minister David Lamy admits that recognition does not create a Palestinian state “overnight” and instead frams it as a step to maintain the two-state solution.
It is expected that British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer will formally announce that Portugal has confirmed its intention to comply.
Priorities were previously recognized in Israel’s commitment to ceasefires and negotiations. Israel has ignored it.
Reports suggest that France, Canada and Malta could move towards awareness in the coming days.
Meanwhile, global protests have intensified.
In the Moroccan port city of Tanguye, thousands of people marched in solidarity with Gaza, waving Palestine and Moroccan flags and chanting the Israeli massacre.
In Mexico City, protesters also gathered to support Palestine.
Activists have highlighted the global Sumud Flotilla, an international effort to break Israeli lockdown in Gaza, as the war has already killed 65,283 people and injured 166,575 since October 2023, according to local authorities.
MNA