Three quarters of UN states support Palestinian state
By Marie JULIEN
Three quarters of UN members recognise a state of Palestine, with major power France set to join them in September following an announcement Thursday by its President Emmanuel Macron.
The Israel-Hamas war, raging in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group's attack on October 7, 2023, has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.
The action breaks with the long-held view of Western powers that Palestinians can only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.
According to an AFP tally, at least 142 countries out of the 193 UN members have now recognised or plan to recognise a Palestinian state.
They include most Middle Eastern, African, Latin American and Asian countries, but not the United States, Canada, most of western Europe, Australia, Japan or South Korea.
Here is a quick recap of the Palestinians' quest for statehood:
1988: Arafat proclaims state
On November 15, 1988, during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising against Israeli rule, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
He made the announcement in Algiers at a meeting of the exiled Palestinian National Council, which adopted the two-state solution as a goal, with independent Israeli and Palestinian states existing side-by-side.
Minutes later, Algeria became the first country to officially recognise an independent Palestinian state.
Within a week, dozens of other countries, including much of the Arab world, India, Turkey, most of Africa and several central and eastern European countries followed suit.
The next wave of recognitions came in late 2010 and early 2011, at a time of crisis for the Middle East peace process.
South American countries including Argentina, Brazil and Chile answered calls by the Palestinians to endorse their statehood claims.
This came in response to Israel's decision to end a temporary ban on Jewish settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.
2011-2012: UN recognition
In 2011, with peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians pushed ahead with a campaign for full UN membership for a state of Palestine.
The quest failed but, in a groundbreaking move on October 31 of that year, the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to accept the Palestinians as a full member, much to the dismay of Israel and the United States.
In November 2012, the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the United Nations in New York after the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to "non-member observer state".
Three years later, the International Criminal Court also accepted Palestine as a state party.
2024: New push in Europe
Israel's offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023 attack has boosted support for Palestinian statehood.
Four Caribbean countries (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Bahamas) and Armenia took the diplomatic step in 2024.
So did four European countries: Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, the latter three EU members.
Within the European Union, this was a first in 10 years since Sweden's move in 2014, which resulted in years of strained relations with Israel.
Other member states such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania had already done so in 1988, long before joining the EU.
On the other hand, some former Eastern bloc countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic do not or no longer recognise a state of Palestine.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer Thursday called for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying such a move could "put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis."
Among other countries that could also formally express recognition, Malta, Australia and Canada have raised the possibility.
© 2025 AFP
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