French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that France planned to recognize a Palestinian state in a few months and could take precedence at a United Nations Conference in New York in June aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He added that in turn, some countries in the Middle East could officially recognize the State of Israel. The Palestinian authority praised the announcement as “a step in the right direction”.
In the midst of the continuous war of Israel against Gaza, 10 countries – Mexico, Armenia, Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados – officially recognized the state of Palestine, reflecting growing international support.
Recognition of Palestine strengthens its global position, improves its ability to hold the Israeli authorities responsible for the occupation and puts pressure on Western powers to act on the two -state solution.
What countries recognize Palestine?
Currently, the state of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign nation by 147 of the 193 UN member states, representing 75% of the international community. He is also recognized by the Holy See, the director’s organ of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City, which holds the status of UN observer.
These countries are listed in the map and the table below:
A brief history of Palestinian recognition
On November 15, 1988, in the first years of the first Intifada, Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestine Liberation Organization, proclaimed Palestine as an independent state in Jerusalem as the capital.
Following the announcement, more than 80 countries have recognized Palestine as an independent state, with strong support from the world South, notably nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world.
Most of the European countries that recognized Palestine at that time did it as part of the former Soviet bloc.
A few years later, on September 13, 1993, the first direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis led to the signing of the Oslo agreements, which were supposed to cause Palestinian self -determination in the form of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It has never been done.
At the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, nearly 20 countries recognized Palestine, followed by 12 other countries between 2000 and 2010 – mainly from all of Africa and South America.
In 2011, all African countries, with the exception of Eritrea and Cameroon, had recognized Palestine.
In 2012, the General Assembly voted by an overwhelming majority (138 in favor, 9 against, 41 abstentions) to change the status of Palestine to “the state of non -member observer”, and in 2014, Sweden became the first country in Western Europe to recognize Palestine.
More European countries recognizing Palestine
On May 22, 2024, Norway, Ireland and Spain was successively announced that they recognized Palestine according to the fronts before 1967 with East Jerusalem as capital.
In response, Israel recalled its ambassadors from the three European countries and promised to extend the illegal colonies to the occupied West Bank as punishment.
On June 4, Slovenia became the last European country to recognize a Palestinian state.
Other European nations, such as Malta and Belgium, discuss the question of whether and when to recognize the Palestinian state.
None of the G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom or the United States – do so.
