Protest ... an activist holds up a Palestinian flag during a protest against the expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum, on December 12. Picture: AP Source: AP

Lawmakers approved the motion by 498 votes to 88 with 111 abstentions, although it was a watered-down version of an original motion which had urged EU member states to recognise a Palestinian state unconditionally.

The motion said the parliament “supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.”

However Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fiercely opposed to any resolution under which Palestine gains back the occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank, saying it would lead to “terrorists”causing regional problems.

“Attempts of the Palestinians and of several European countries to force conditions on Israel will only lead to a deterioration in the regional situation and will endanger Israel,” he said.

Historic vote ... members of the EU Parliament take part in a voting session in France on December 17. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The socialist, greens and radical left groups in the European Parliament had wanted an outright call for the recognition of Palestinian statehood.

But the centre-right European People’s Party of European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, the leading group in parliament, forced them into a compromise motion linking it to peace talks.

Anniversary ... Palestinian Hamas supporters wave green Islamic flags as they chant Islamic slogans during a rally to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the militant group on December 12. Picture: AP Source: AP

“There is no immediate unconditional recognition (of statehood),” EPP chief Manfred Weber said.

But his socialist counterpart Gianni Pittella insisted it was a “historic decision” and a “victory for the whole parliament”.

Several European parliaments have passed motions urging their governments to recognise a Palestinian state in recent weeks in a bid to pressure Israel to relaunch the moribund peace process. France, Britain, Spain, Ireland and Portugal have all passed votes to that end.

Sweden has gone even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state.

Peaceful protest ... a man holds a Palestinian flag and a baby olive tree during a demonstration near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 10. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

EU court orders removal of Hamas from its terror blacklist

The historic European Parliament vote came hours after the General Court of the European Union ordered the removal of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas from its terror blacklist.

The court ruled that the original listing in 2001 was based not on sound legal judgments but on conclusions derived from the media and the internet.

However it stressed that the decision to remove Hamas was based on technical grounds and does “not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group”.

March ... Palestinian Hamas masked gunmen march in a rally to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Hamas militant group in Gaza City on December 14. Picture: AP Source: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit out at the decision, saying Europeans appeared to have learned nothing from the Holocaust.

“In Luxembourg the European court removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organisations, Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and countless terror acts,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying.

“It seems that too many in Europe, on whose soil six million Jews were slaughtered, have learned nothing,” he said.

Furious ... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has branded Hamas ‘terrorists’. Picture: AP Source: AP

At the start of a meeting with US Republican Senator-elect Joni Ernst, Netanyahu said: “But we in Israel, we’ve learned. We’ll continue to defend our people and our state against the forces of terror and tyranny and hypocrisy.

Founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Hamas was inspired by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Its charter calls for the eventual destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state on the pre-1948 borders of British-mandated Palestine.

Israel will rebuff any attempt that would bring terror into our home, Israeli PM Netanyahu says before talks with U.S. Secretary of State to discuss U.N. proposals for a Palestinian state. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Geneva conference to ‘probe alleged Israeli war crimes’

Netanyahu also lambasted an international conference in Geneva that he said sought to probe accusations of Israeli war crimes.

Switzerland gathered diplomats from 126 of the 196 signatories of the Geneva Conventions to discuss protections for civilians, fulfilling a five-year-old request for such a conference from the UN General Assembly.

“Today we witnessed staggering examples of European hypocrisy,” Netanyahu said. “In Geneva they call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes.”

War ... smoke and fire engulfs Gaza City after an Israeli air strike on July 29. Picture: AP Source: AP

Paul Fivat, Switzerland’s special ambassador for the Geneva Conventions, said that the intention was “not to accuse, it was not a tribunal ... it was a place simply for the parties to reiterate what is international law”.

“This declaration is a signal that is being sent to conflicting parties, especially the civilian populations, that there is a law which is protecting their interests,” he told reporters.

The Palestinians warn that they may seek to sign up to the International Criminal Court and have threatened to file a suit against Israel over its July-August war against Hamas in the Gaza strip, in which more than 2000 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians.

Destruction ... a Palestinian boy looks at what was left of Gaza City on December 10 following a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas-led militants. Picture: AFP Source: AFP