- France, Australia, and Canada plan to recognise Palestinian statehood in September
- Nearly 150 UN member states currently recognise Palestinian sovereignty
- More European and Caribbean countries recognised Palestine in spring 2024
France, Australia and Canada have announced their plans to recognise the Palestinian state come September. Once done, it will take the total number of UN members that recognise Palestinian sovereignty to nearly 150.
Together with more than 140 other nations, Portugal, Malta and the UK have also declared their intention to recognise Palestinian statehood in the forthcoming UN General Assembly session, CNN reported.
Following the establishment of the Palestine National Council (PNC), the majority of countries that recognise the State of Palestine did so in 1988. Similar actions followed, with multiple non-Western nations recognising the Occupied Lands as a state, in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.
Several European countries, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, pursued a single agenda as members of the Communist bloc of Soviet-aligned countries when they first recognised a Palestinian state in 1988.
Which countries have recognised the Palestinian statehood?
The majority of the nations in Asia, Africa, and South America are among the nearly 150 of the 193 UN members that recognise Palestinian statehood. Only a small percentage of Western nations, primarily former Soviet states, have done it so far. But this trend seems to be changing.
According to TIME, Australia, Canada, Malta, and France may recognise a Palestinian state during the September UN General Assembly meeting. New Zealand declared on Monday that it would "carefully weigh up its position over the next month on recognition of a state of Palestine."
In 2024, Armenia, Slovenia, Ireland, Spain, and Norway recognised Palestinian statehood.
More European and Caribbean countries, including Barbados, Ireland, Jamaica, Norway, and Spain, recognised a Palestinian state in the spring of 2024.
The United Kingdom has said that it will recognise a Palestinian state if Israel fails to stop the war in Gaza and refuses a ceasefire.
Israel claimed that the recognition of Palestinian statehood by Western countries like France, Canada, and the UK "rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, like Gaza became."
What does recognising Palestinian statehood mean?
According to international law, a sovereign state must have a functioning government, a constant population, a defined territory, and the capacity to engage in international relations. Sovereign statehood does not depend on a nation's official recognition by other nations, but it influences how nations engage with one another.
Since a large portion of the world already recognises Palestinian statehood, the change among Western nations is generally interpreted as an effort to put pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli Defence Forces have struck neighbourhoods, hospitals and schools, killing over 65,000 Palestinians since the beginning of attacks in October 2023.
