European Parliament votes for recognizing Palestine as independent state

In a move that will further increase Israel’s outcries, the European Parliament (EP) has voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as an independent state.

In a Wednesday voting, 496 members of the EP voted for the recognition motion, 88 voted against with 111 abstentions.

Based on the motion, the European Union must “unconditionally” recognize Palestine as an independent state.

This comes as Palestinian authorities say they will press ahead with their efforts at the United Nations (UN) to seek official statehood despite a joint US-Israeli bid to stymie the attempts.

The recognition vote follows similar votes by a few European countries legislatures including those of France, Britain, Spain and Portugal that call on their respective governments to recognize Palestinian statehood.

The Palestinians want the borders of the future state of Palestine to be based on the pre-1967 lines. In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and the Gaza Strip. However, Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and has put it under siege since 2007.