September 2, 2025 | 11:41 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Belgium will recognize the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly next week. The country’s foreign minister conveyed this on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
“Palestine will be recognized by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions are being imposed against the Israeli government,” wrote Belgium Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot on X, as quoted from Arab News.
Prevot added that Belgium would impose 12 strict sanctions on Israel, including banning imports from settlements and reviewing public procurement policies with Israeli companies.
As reported by Al Jazeera, he emphasized that the announcement was made in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, especially in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have displaced much of the Palestinian population at least once.
The UN also declared a famine due to the Israeli blockade preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza.
“In the face of the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law, given its international obligations, including the duty to prevent any risk of genocide, Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists,” Prevot wrote.
“This is not about punishing the Israeli people, but rather about ensuring that its government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground,” he added.
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state during the UN General Assembly session in New York from September 9 to 23.
Since then, more than a dozen other Western countries have urged others to do the same.
As of April of this year, 147 countries representing 75 percent of UN members had recognized Palestinian statehood.
Belgium made its announcement amid Israel's genocide in Gaza, which has killed at least 63,459 people and injured 160,256 others.
In July, Belgian prosecutors filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against two Israeli soldiers, who were accused of being involved in atrocities in Gaza.
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