LONDON -- Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said on Wednesday that the country would recognize Palestine as a state.

"Today Ireland, Norway and Spain are announcing that we recognize the state of Palestine, each of us will undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision," Harris said in Dublin, the Irish capital.

"I am confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks," he said.

The Irish prime minister said the country believes that "permanent peace can only be secured upon the basis of the free will of a free people."

"Palestinians in Gaza are enduring the most appalling suffering, hardship and starvation," he said. "A humanitarian catastrophe, unimaginable to most, and unconscionable to all -- is unfolding in real time."