Britain on Tuesday said it would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel did not reach a cease-fire agreement on the war in Gaza by September. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s move followed France’s announcement last week that it would officially acknowledge Palestine statehood.

英国周二表示，如果以色列未能在9月前就加沙战争达成停火协议，英国将承认巴勒斯坦国。英国首相基尔·斯塔默的这一举措紧随法国上周宣布将正式承认巴勒斯坦国之后。

Both announcements reflect the deep frustrations by both nations with Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, analysts say, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left a population of about two million in a state of extreme privation and hunger.

分析人士指出，两国的声明反映了它们都对以色列加沙军事行动深感不满，这场战争已导致数万名巴勒斯坦人丧生，约200万人口陷入极度贫困和饥饿的境地。

They also came in response to Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank: Its military activity there has displaced Palestinians en masse this year, settlement plans have expanded, and violence by settlers against Palestinians has risen since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel ignited the war. That assault killed about 1,200 people and led to the abduction of about 250 others to Gaza.

此举也是对以色列在占领的约旦河西岸行为的回应：今年以军在该地区的军事行动已导致巴勒斯坦人大规模流离失所，定居点扩建计划持续推进，且自哈马斯2023年10月7日对以色列的袭击点燃战火以来，定居者对巴勒斯坦人的暴力事件持续增加。该袭击造成约1200人死亡，另有约250人被绑架至加沙。

The announcements raise questions about what the recognition of a Palestinian state would mean and what it can actually do.

这些声明引发了人们对承认巴勒斯坦国将意味着什么，以及能产生什么实质影响的疑问。

What is a state?

何为国家？

The criteria for statehood were laid out in an international treaty in 1933.

1933年的一项国际条约确立了国家地位的认定标准。

They include four elements: a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government and an ability to conduct international affairs.

其中包含四大要素：常住人口、明确划定的领土边界、政府机构及开展国际交往的能力。

Recognition is an official acknowledgment that a would-be state broadly meets those conditions. It can occur even if an element is in dispute, including territorial boundaries.

国家承认是指官方正式认可某一潜在国家基本满足上述条件。即使某些要件——包括领土边界——存在争议，承认仍可发生。

Like all legal questions, “interpretation matters,” said Zinaida Miller, a professor of law and international affairs at Northeastern University.

东北大学法学与国际事务教授齐奈达·米勒指出：如同所有法律问题，“重要的是如何诠释。”

The criteria for recognizing a Palestinian state have been met at a basic level, many experts on international law say.

许多国际法专家表示，承认巴勒斯坦国的基本条件已基本具备。

A permanent population and land exist. The borders, while disputed, are broadly understood to be in Israeli-occupied territories, including the West Bank and Gaza, which was seized in 1967 in a war with a coalition of Arab states; as well as East Jerusalem, which Israel has effectively annexed.

巴勒斯坦拥有稳定的人口和领土。尽管边界存在争议，但普遍认为其领土包括以色列占领的西岸和加沙地带——这些地区于1967年在与阿拉伯国家联盟的战争中被以色列占领——以及东耶路撒冷，该地区已被以色列实际吞并。

7月，加沙地中海沿岸流离失所的巴勒斯坦人。

The Palestinian Authority is a government body that administers part of the West Bank and represents Palestinians. Its creation was authorized by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which represents Palestinians internationally.

巴勒斯坦权力机构是管理约旦河西岸部分地区并代表巴勒斯坦人民的政府实体。该机构由在国际上代表巴勒斯坦的巴勒斯坦解放组织授权建立。

While there are limits to what the Palestinian Authority can do, given the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Hamas’s control of Gaza, foreign recognition of a Palestinian state would mean the establishment of direct diplomatic contact between the Authority and the recognizing nation.

尽管受限于以色列对西岸的占领及哈马斯对加沙的控制，巴勒斯坦权力机构的职能存在诸多制约，但外国承认巴勒斯坦国将意味着权力机构与承认国之间建立直接外交联系。

Recognition would also send diplomatic and political messages. It would acknowledge the Palestinian right to self-determination and reject the positions and actions of the Israeli government that undermine that right, Ms. Miller said.

承认行为本身也传递着外交和政治信号。既认可巴勒斯坦人民的自决权，亦否定以色列政府那些损害这一权利的立场和行径，米勒表示。

‘A basis for added pressure.’

“施加额外压力的依据”

A major consequence of recognizing Palestinian statehood is that it provides a basis for “a complete revision of bilateral relations with Israel,” said Ardi Imseis, an associate professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law in Ontario and a former United Nations official.

承认巴勒斯坦国的主要后果在于，这为“全面调整与以色列的双边关系提供了依据”，安大略省女王大学法学院副教授、前联合国官员阿尔迪·伊姆塞斯指出。

A country that recognizes Palestine has to review agreements with Israel to make sure they do not violate its obligations to the Palestinian state. This would include political and territorial integrity, as well as economic, cultural, social and civil relations, he said.

承认巴勒斯坦国的国家必须审查与以色列的现有协议，确保其不违背对巴勒斯坦国承担的义务。伊姆塞斯指出，这包括巴方政治与领土完整，以及经济、文化、社会和民事关系。

For example, if an aspect of trade aids or assists Israel in violation of the rights of a Palestinian state, then the recognizing nation would have to cease that exchange.

例如，若贸易协定的某条款协助以色列侵犯巴勒斯坦国的权利，承认国须终止该领域的合作。

“Practically speaking, recognition would provide a basis for added pressure to be brought to bear by civil society and lawmakers in the recognizing state” to change policies and align them with other requirements, Mr. Imseis said.

“实际上，承认将为民间社会和立法者在承认国提供施加额外压力的依据”，从而推动政策调整以符合其他要求，伊姆塞斯强调。

A recognizing nation would not have to stop all trade with Israel, said Paul Reichler, a lawyer who represents sovereign states and has argued for the state of Palestine at the International Court of Justice.

承认巴勒斯坦国并不意味着必须停止与以色列的所有贸易往来，代表主权国家并在国际法院为巴勒斯坦国辩护的律师保罗·赖克勒表示。

But if, for example, a country that recognizes a state of Palestine imports agricultural products from farms belonging to settlers in occupied territories, those agreements would be aiding and abetting the commission of a wrongful act, he said.

但他指出，例如，如果一个承认巴勒斯坦国的国家从被占领土上的以色列定居者农场进口农产品，其贸易协议将构成对非法行为的协助和教唆。

International law experts note that an advisory ruling from the International Court of Justice last year concluded, among other things, that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories violated a prohibition on territorial conquest.

国际法专家指出，国际法院去年的一项咨询意见裁决判定，以色列对巴勒斯坦领土的占领违反了禁止领土征服的规定。

A U.N. majority for recognition already exists.

联合国承认巴勒斯坦国的国家已占多数。

Most countries in the United Nations — 147 out of 193 — already recognize a Palestinian state.

联合国绝大多数国家——193个成员国中的147个——已承认巴勒斯坦国。

Britain and France would be joining them, and their position has extra heft because they are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, with the power to veto any substantive Council resolution, including on the admission of new member states.

若英国和法国加入该行列，其立场将具有额外分量——作为安理会常任理事国，两国对包括接纳新会员国在内的所有实质性决议拥有否决权。

英国首相斯塔默（左）与法国总统马克龙于7月在伦敦会面。两国均表示可能承认巴勒斯坦国。

The two countries would be bolstering the stance taken by most other nations and sending a political message, but their shift would also have a practical effect. They would join China and Russia in recognizing a Palestinian state and leave the United States as the sole permanent member of the Security Council with veto power that is holding out.

两国的举动将强化大多数国家已采取的立场并传递政治信号，而且其政策转变也将产生实质影响。它们将与中国和俄罗斯一道承认巴勒斯坦国，而美国将成为安理会中唯一拒绝承认的否决权持有国。

The state of Palestine currently has observer status at the U.N., and that will not change if the United States maintains its opposition to full membership.

巴勒斯坦国目前在联合国享有观察员地位，如果美国继续反对其获得完全成员国地位，这一状况将不会改变。

What is the goal of recognition?

承认巴勒斯坦国的目的是什么？

It is part of a political, diplomatic and legal push to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite resistance from Israel’s current government.

这是在以色列现政府反对的情况下，通过政治、外交和法律手段推动实现巴以冲突的两国解决方案的一部分。

“There are two peoples living between the river and the sea, not one, and they are entitled to separate states in which each of these peoples enjoys the full panoply of civil and human rights,” Mr. Reichler said.

赖克勒表示：“在从约旦河到地中海之间的土地上生活着两个民族，而非一个。他们有权建立各自独立的国家，使每个民族都能享有完整的公民权与人权。”

“The only solution is two states, and it so happens that is what international law requires and is reflected in U.N. resolutions and in determinations of the I.C.J.,” he said.

“两国方案是唯一出路，这恰恰是国际法的要求，也体现在联合国决议和国际法院的裁决中，”他说。

Although the declarations of Palestinian statehood may appear symbolic, “small steps” like recognition “make a contribution” to the goal of establishing two states, he said.

他进一步指出，尽管巴勒斯坦建国宣言可能看似只具有象征性，但承认国家地位这类“小步骤”将为实现建立两个国家的目标“做出贡献”。

周二，以色列总理内塔尼亚胡在一份声明中表示，英国此举是在“奖励哈马斯残暴的恐怖主义，并惩罚其受害者”。

Some nations. like Norway, once held off recognizing a Palestinian state in the belief that recognition would someday emerge from a negotiated peace process. With such a process seemingly currently out of reach and outrage over Israeli policies growing, some countries have put recognition first in the hope that it would lead to a peace process.

挪威等国曾一度推迟承认巴勒斯坦国，寄希望于未来和谈进程实现承认。但当前和谈无望，加之对以政策的愤怒情绪日益高涨，一些国家转而采取“承认先行”，以期此举能推动和平进程的启动。

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that the establishment of a Palestinian state would endanger Israel’s security, and he has rejected the notion, particularly since the war in Gaza began. His governing coalition includes far-right ministers who are settlers and staunchly opposed to a Palestinian state, and he risks their abandoning the bloc if he indicates a willingness to consider it.

以色列总理内塔尼亚胡坚称巴勒斯坦建国将危及以色列安全，他已明确反对这一主张，尤其是在加沙战争爆发后。他的执政联盟中包括一些极右翼部长，他们是定居者且坚决反对巴勒斯坦建国，如果内塔尼亚胡表现出愿意考虑这一问题的迹象，他将面临这些部长退出联盟的风险。

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu said Britain’s announcement “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims.”

在7月30日的声明中，他谴责英国的决定“奖励哈马斯残暴的恐怖主义，并惩罚其受害者”。