Palestinians in West Bank Seek More Than Recognition Amid Growing Fears

Tue Oct 21 2025 03:55:28 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As several Western countries formally recognize Palestinian statehood, inhabitants of the West Bank express concerns that acknowledgment alone may not suffice to improve their plight, calling for immediate solutions.

In Ramallah, Israel's actions and recent recognition from Western nations of Palestinian statehood leave many Palestinians feeling anxious and uncertain about their future. Local residents stress the necessity of actionable solutions rather than mere acknowledgment, as ongoing Israeli policies impede the possibility of a viable Palestinian state. The complex socio-political landscape, compounded by military control and settlement expansion, exacerbates Palestinian fears of an increasingly bleak future.

In Ramallah - the de facto Palestinian capital of the occupied West Bank - many fear Western recognition of Palestinian statehood is too little, too late.

I'm really glad that there are people who can see our suffering in Palestine and understand the problems we're going through, says Diaa, 23, who did not want to give his full name.

But while recognition is important, what we really need are solutions.

This city is home to government buildings, diplomatic missions, and a sprawling presidential palace.

But for many Palestinians, the dream remains that East Jerusalem - just a few miles south but largely cut off by Israel's separation barrier - could become their capital under a two-state solution, which would create an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside Israel.

It is with that stated goal that the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Andorra, and Monaco announced formal recognition of the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

Recognition is a positive after all this time, says Kamal Daowd, 40, on a busy Ramallah street. But without international pressure it will not be enough.

If recognition comes without giving us our rights, he says, Then it's nothing more than ink on paper.

Israel has labelled the Western move a reward for terrorism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that there will be no Palestinian state - while ultranationalists in his governing coalition went further, repeating calls for Israel to annex the West Bank outright.

The only response, wrote far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is the removal of the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.

The UK and Germany say they have warned Israel against annexation, while UN Secretary General António Guterres told a recent conference it would be morally, legally and politically intolerable.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. The settlements are illegal under international law.

In the almost two years since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, triggering war in Gaza, Israel has tightened its control over the West Bank.

It has targeted armed Palestinian resistance pockets, carrying out military operations and demolitions, displacing many residents.

Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground, Smotrich said last month. Not with documents nor with decisions or statements, but with facts. Facts of houses, facts of neighborhoods.

Previous visions of a two-state solution involved land swaps. The 2008 plan would have had Israel cede 4.9% of its land for an equal amount of Palestinian land in the West Bank, but was never agreed. Today, settlements have fragmented the territory, raising concerns about the feasibility of an independent state.

Gaza's devastation is immense, with over 65,000 Palestinians reported dead and most of its 2.1 million inhabitants displaced. Reconstruction costs are estimated at more than £45bn.

Everyone is tired, everyone is exhausted, everyone is losing hope that the international community will solidify the recognition, says Sabri Saidam, a senior member of Fatah, the PA's largest faction. Despite this, he remains committed to the cause of recognition.

Yet the US has barred over 80 Palestinian officials, including President Abbas, from attending the UN General Assembly, claiming this undermines peace efforts.

As for Palestinians like Diaa, the situation feels increasingly bleak. People feel that the national dream is almost impossible, he says.