Belgium said on Tuesday that it will recognize a Palestinian state at this month’s U.N. General Assembly, but that the recognition would only go into effect after Hamas is removed from power in the Gaza Strip and the 48 remaining hostages it holds are released.

“Belgium will recognize Palestine during the joint initiative of France and Saudi Arabia,” Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot tweeted Tuesday, calling the move a “powerful political and diplomatic signal.”

Prévot also unveiled a slate of 12 sanctions targeting the Jewish state.

Brussels decided on the move to preserve the two-state solution and to “mark the condemnation of Israel’s expansionist ambitions, with its colonization programs and military occupations,” stated Prévot.

However, noting “the trauma suffered by the Isra

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