Palestinians in Gaza torn between hope, despair after Western recognition of statehood

For many Palestinians displaced by Israel’s war on Gaza, the long-awaited recognition of Palestine by Western countries is being met with both cautious celebration and weary doubt.

Some hail the decision by countries long seen as close allies of Israel as “a historic victory,” while others insist it will do little to ease the hunger, destruction and death that define their lives.

Families fleeing Gaza City in recent weeks have described an endless cycle of displacement, pushing handcarts, riding bicycles or walking for miles under fire.

Along Al-Rashid Street, where waves of exhausted civilians continue their trek south, hopes are pinned on the possibility that new diplomatic momentum could one day bring the killing to an end.

The recognition, announced Sunday ahead of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session in New York, raises to 153 the number of UN member states that officially recognize Palestine, a dream first declared by late Yasser Arafat in 1988.

- Victory

Salah Nassar, an elderly man from Jabalia who has been uprooted seven times in two years, rested under the sun after another forced march.

“Britain, Canada and Australia always supported Israel. For them to recognize us today is a great victory for our cause,” he told Anadolu.

He said every displacement felt like “a journey of torment and death,” describing how his family was driven from one camp to another under relentless bombardment.

“The world must all recognize Palestine. Our land and our people exist for generations to come.”

Other Gazans stressed the decision, while overdue, is meaningful.

“This recognition is a legal right under international law. It came late, but it matters,” Ghazi Al-Hattab, 48, from Shujaiya, told Anadolu.

Forced to flee by bicycle because he could not afford the thousands of dollars demanded for transport, Al-Hattab said he still believes such moves could “mark the beginning of the end of the war” and pave the way for an independent Palestinian state.

- ‘Nothing changes’

But not all were convinced. Um Khaled Al-Shanti, trudging south from Al-Shati camp, dismissed the impact.

“We have lived two years under this war. Our people are destroyed. There is no future for us. This decision will not change our reality,” she said.

She criticized the silence of Arab states and what she described as the “empty symbolism” of Europe.

“No one has stood with us as we crawl from the rubble under constant bombardment,” she said.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza which has so far killed more than 65,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The onslaught has displaced hundreds of thousands alongside a blockade on humanitarian aid that has led to famine and claimed the lives of at least 442 Palestinians, including 147 children.