Australia to consider recognising Palestinian state, foreign minister says

SYDNEY - Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong said Canberra would consider recognition of a Palestinian state, a shift in policy as the international community looks for a two-state solution to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

In a speech on Tuesday evening, Wong backed comments by Britain's foreign minister David Cameron who has said that recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations, would make a two-state solution irreversible.

Wong said the international community is discussing Palestinian statehood "as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution".

"A two-state solution is the only hope to break the endless cycle of violence," she said, speaking at the Australian National University.

The so-called two-state solution has long been the basis for international peace efforts to resolve the long Israel-Palestinian conflict, but the process has been stalled for a decade even before the present war in the Palestinian enclave Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Palestinians aspire to having an independent state in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War - and including Gaza.

Israel on Sunday formalised its opposition to what it called the "unilateral recognition" of Palestinian statehood, and said any such agreement must be reached through direct negotiations.

Spain is among other Western countries pushing for such recognition and is a main proponent of such a move within the European Union.

Wong, however, ruled out a role for Hamas, which rules Gaza.

"There is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state," she said.

The Palestinian Authority last week formally asked for renewed consideration by the United Nations Security Council of its 2011 application to become a full member of the world body. The Palestinians are a non-member observer state at the United Nations, the same status as the Holy See.

The United Nations Security Council president on Monday referred the Palestinian Authority's application to become a full U.N. member to the admission committee.

Wong said "those who claim recognition is rewarding an enemy" were wrong because Israel's own security depends on a two-state solution.

"There is no long-term security for Israel unless it is recognised by the countries of its region," she said.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Angus MacSwan)