 "Palestine, Gaza, Israel, war, conflict")
Norway, Spain and Ireland on Wednesday announced they will officially recognise Palestine as an independent state, breaking with the position that Western powers have maintained for a long time -- that a Palestinian state can only come about as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.
The historic move comes amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which has dragged on for nearly eight months. It also comes after the United States (US) used its veto at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in April to prevent a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member state.
The announcement drew condemnation from Israel, which immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland, but jubilation from the Palestinians.
How many countries recognise a Palestinian state?
A state of Palestine is already recognised by 142 of the 193 member countries of the UN, according to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which holds limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
These member countries include many Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries. However, the US, Canada, a large part of western Europe, and Australia are not part of this group.
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Palestinians possess limited self-government through the PA in parts of the occupied West Bank. While the PA lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in 2007, the UN considers both territories as comprising a single political entity and as being occupied by Israel.
Palestine, which is a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), was granted additional rights in May by the UNGA. These rights include being seated with member states, being able to introduce proposals and being able to participate in committees. However, Palestine still does not have the right to vote.
Does India recognise the state of Palestine?
Among the G20, a strategic multilateral platform connecting the world's major developed and emerging economies, ten countries recognise the state of Palestine: India, China, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey.
Meanwhile, nine countries in the G20 do not: the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.
The remaining members of the G20 are the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), which comprises 55 nations and was inducted as a member of the G20 in September 2023.
Do Western powers recognise the state of Palestine?
In April, the US vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for Palestine's full UN membership, a cherished goal for the Palestinians that Israel has worked hard to prevent.
The vote in the 15-member UNSC was 12 in favor. While the US opposed the resolution and the UK and Switzerland abstained, American allies France, Japan and South Korea supported it.
Among EU member states, Sweden was the only country so far that had recognised Palestine while being a member. Seven other EU countries did the same before joining the bloc. These are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
Other EU members like Malta and Slovenia have indicated their intention to recognise the state of Palestine when "the circumstances are right".
Instead of embassies, the EU and big countries like France and Germany have "representative offices" in the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron recently said that recognising a Palestinian state without a negotiated peace was "not a taboo for France".
Recently, Australia also floated the possibility of unilaterally endorsing Palestinian statehood.
Of the three countries that announced on Wednesday that they will officially recognise a Palestinian state by May 28, Spain and Ireland are part of the EU, while Norway is not.
A brief history of the Palestinians' quest for statehood
On November 15, 1988, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Arafat made the announcement in Algeria, during the first Palestinian intifada.
Algeria became the first country to officially recognise an independent Palestinian state just minutes after the announcement.
Dozens of other countries, including India, Turkey, large parts of the Arab world and Africa, and a number of eastern and central European nations, also recognised Palestine within weeks of Arafat's announcement.
In South America, Argentina, Brazil and Chile endorsed the Palestinians' statehood claims between 2010 and 2011.
The Palestinians decided to push for full UN membership for a State of Palestine in 2011, but failed.
However, in October 2011, UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, voted to accept the Palestinians as a full member, against opposition from Israel and the US.
Finally, the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the UN in New York in November 2012, after the UNGA overwhelmingly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to non-member observer state.
In 2015, the International Criminal Court accepted Palestine as a state party.
The October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and led to over 250 being taken hostage triggered Israel's war in Gaza.
Since then, over 35,000 people have been killed during Israel's attacks in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities.
Israel's war in Gaza, which has dragged on for nearly eight months, appears to have revived support for Palestinian statehood in many parts of the world.
(With agency inputs)
