Palestine is set to gain recognition from France, the UK, Canada and six other countries during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Thursday’s US state department decision to sanction Palestinian officials, denying them visas to attend, could make these countries more determined to advance recognition.
Palestine has been recognised by 147 of the United Nations’ 193 members, but has been accorded observer status rather than UN membership.
Membership has been vetoed by the US, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council – along with France, the UK, China, and Russia – which must approve applications.
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The move for recognition began on November 15th, 1988, when the Palestine National Council, the parliament-in-exile, issued a declaration of independence.
[ Israeli strikes and gunfire kill dozens of Palestinians in GazaOpens in new window ]
Written by national poet Mahmoud Darwish, the declaration called for a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. This amounted to a shift in policy, as the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had dropped its aspiration for a state in the whole of Palestine. The PLO opted instead for a mini-state in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.
Israel was ordered to withdraw from the territories by the security council in November 1967 but failed to comply.
Palestine was instantly recognised by 13 countries, including Algeria, Malaysia, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen and Somalia.
On December 15th, 1988, the UN General Assembly acknowledged the declaration of independence and recognised Palestine rather than the PLO as representing Palestinians within the UN system.
By the end of the year, Palestine was recognised by 81 countries from Asia, Africa, the non-aligned group and eastern Europe. In October 2014, Sweden became the first European Union member to recognise Palestine.
Among the countries recognising Palestine last year were Ireland, Spain and Norway.
France, the UK, Andora, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino and Malta are set to recognise Palestine this year.
Australia has refused to set a time, while Germany and Italy do not intend to extend recognition. France has issued no conditions, while the UK and Canada have done so.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has said the UK will recognise Palestine unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the conflict with Hamas, allow substantive humanitarian aid into Gaza, declare no annexation of the West Bank and commit to the two-state solution involving a Palestinian state next to Israel.
He said Hamas “must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm”.
In return for recognition, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney called for reform of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, a commitment to hold elections in 2026 and the exclusion of Hamas from politics.
The addition of France and Britain would mean that – minus the US – Palestine is recognised as a state by four of the five permanent UN Security Council members.
The US has criticised the spate of recognitions which have been, at least in part, driven by Israel’s attack on Gaza and long-term refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations on the two-state solution.
US president Donald Trump has dismissed France’s stance and accused others of rewarding Hamas by granting recognition. “I’m not in that camp, to be honest,” he said.
The conflict began when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 abducted by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. Israel’s army has since killed more than 60,000 and wounded 45,870, driven 90 per cent of Gazans from their homes, and laid waste to the strip.
