Norway to keep supporting Palestine amid Israeli hostility: Foreign minister

ANKARA

Norway's foreign minister on Friday said his country would continue supporting the Palestinian people amid the Israeli hostility his country faces.

In an interview with the Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: “The message we received from Israel was clearly directed at both the Palestinians and the world. Israel no longer supports the two-state solution."

The official added: “Israel has canceled our diplomatic status and, despite this, we continue to support the Palestinian people.”

Norway and Israel have been in conflict for months due to Oslo's decision to recognize Palestine as a state.

This move was met with strong opposition from Tel Aviv, leading Israel to take several retaliatory actions against Norway and the Palestinians.

Recently, Israel revoked the accreditation of Norwegian diplomats working with the Palestinian Authority and reportedly withdrew and canceled some bank deposits in Norwegian accounts.

“We were compelled to shut down our office temporarily; it has become impossible to operate in Ramallah under the current circumstances,” added the foreign minister.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Since then, an ongoing Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip has killed over 40,000 Palestinians.

Over 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi