Australia will formally recognise a Palestinian state at next month’s 80th United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday following a special cabinet meeting in Canberra. Albanese said the move is designed to build momentum for a two-state solution and alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Recognition, he added, is contingent on commitments from the Palestinian Authority that Hamas will have no role in a future government, Gaza will be demilitarised and elections will be held. “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East,” he told reporters. Canberra’s decision aligns it with France, Britain and Canada and increases diplomatic pressure on Israel, which faces mounting criticism over its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Almost three-quarters of UN member states—about 150 of 193—already recognise Palestinian statehood, and New Zealand said it will review its own position before the September vote. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Australia’s plan as “shameful” and warned it would inflame the conflict. Albanese said he had spoken with Netanyahu last week, telling him that conditions in Gaza had gone “beyond the world’s worst fears” and required a political, not military, response. The announcement marks a rare divergence from the United States, Australia’s closest security partner, underscoring shifting sentiment among Western governments as calls grow for a cease-fire and renewed peace talks.