Today’s announcement that Australia will recognise a Palestinian state is a symbolic gesture which will achieve nothing other than to embolden Hamas to continue to resist ceasefire efforts.

Only last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the unilateral French decision to recognise Palestinian statehood immediately ended any chance of successful ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Today’s announcement by the Australian Government will similarly provide Hamas with incentive to continue to prolong the conflict, hold onto tortured Israeli hostages and extend the suffering of innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

Moreover, instead of recognition taking place in the context of a negotiated two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at this delicate moment will be seen as a reward for the violence perpetrated on October 7 and remove the need for concessions from the Palestinians in future negotiations.

Qatar-based senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad – who previously pledged that Hamas would repeat the October 7 attacks – has claimed in recent days that ‘The initiative by several countries to recognize a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7. We proved that victory over Israel is not impossible, and our weapons are a symbol of Palestinian dignity.’

We also note that Australia’s recognition is not conditional but rather predicated on assurances which have been provided by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Aside from the PA – and the Australian Government – being in no position to disarm Hamas or prevent Hamas from continuing to govern Gaza, the PA itself lacks legitimacy amongst Palestinians and its control over the West Bank is tenuous. The Foreign Minister has indicated that recognition will not be revoked if the PA’s assurances aren’t complied with.

At the very least, the Australian Government’s announcement should have been conditional on Hamas releasing the hostages who continue to languish in its underground dungeons. Tragically this was not the case and we can only observe that this misguided decision has effectively abandoned the hostages, given succour to Hamas and done nothing to bring the war to a swifter conclusion or repair our frayed social cohesion locally.