Norway, Ireland and Spain have formally recognised Palestine as a state.
However, the announcements earned only fury from Israel, widening its disagreements with some European Union states over the continuing war in Gaza. Israel recalled its envoys to the three countries last week for “urgent consultations”.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday that he was sending “a sharp message”: “Israel will not go over this in silence.”
In addition, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he will stop transferring tax funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel, which occupies the West Bank illegally under international law, is required to transfer taxes collected from the Palestinian territory to the PA, which governs it.
Norway, Spain and Ireland made their announcements as a growing number of nations are publicly considering the recognition of Palestine as a state. That is especially so in Europe, traditionally an outlier on the issue. Slovenia, Malta and Belgium are other nations on the continent that are discussing whether and when to recognise Palestinian statehood. At the moment, in addition to Norway, Ireland and Spain, nine other European countries recognise the state.
Countries that recognised Palestine in 2024
This month, 143 of the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of Palestine joining the UN, something only states can do.
Most of the Middle East, Africa and Asia recognise Palestinian statehood. However, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and many Western European states do not.
The countries who have recognised Palestine this year in addition to Spain, Ireland and Norway are the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados.
Recognition from 2011 to 2023
In 2011, despite Palestine’s failure to join the UN after campaigning for full membership, UNESCO granted the Palestinians full membership in the UN cultural agency, leading the US to defund the body.
In 2012, the General Assembly voted in favour of changing Palestine’s status to “nonmember observer state”, and in 2015, the International Criminal Court recognised Palestine as a party.
In 2014, Sweden became the first country in Western Europe to recognise Palestine.
These are the countries that have recognised Palestine in the previous 12 years:
2023: Mexico
2019: Saint Kitts and Nevis
2018: Colombia
2015: Saint Lucia
2014: Sweden
2013: Guatemala, Haiti, the Vatican
2012: Thailand
2011: Chile, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Lesotho, South Sudan, Syria, Liberia, El Salvador, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Iceland
Recognition from 2000 to 2010
Under the Oslo Accords, by May 4, 1999, there was supposed to be an independent Palestine. However, the new millennium marked the beginning of the second Intifada.
These are the countries that recognised Palestine in the first decade of this century:
2010: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador
2009: Venezuela, Dominican Republic
2008: Costa Rica, Lebanon, Ivory Coast
2006: Montenegro
2005: Paraguay
2004: East Timor
Recognition from 1989 to 1999
The first Oslo Accord was signed on September 13, 1993. The agreement between Israeli and Palestinian leaders saw each side recognise the other for the first time.
Both sides also pledged to end their decades-long conflict. A second accord was signed in September 1995. The Oslo Accords were supposed to bring about Palestinian self-determination in the form of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Here are the nations that recognised Palestine in the last decade of the 20th century:
1998: Malawi
1995: South Africa, Kyrgyzstan
1994: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea
1992: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1991: Eswatini
1989: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Iran, Benin, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Vanuatu, Philippines
1988
On November 15, 1988, in the early years of the first Intifada, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, proclaimed Palestine as an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
He did so from Algiers, and Algeria became the first country to officially recognise Palestine.
Most of the European countries recognising Palestine did so as part of the former Soviet bloc:
1988: Algeria, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cuba, Jordan, Madagascar, Malta, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Zambia, Albania, Brunei, Djibouti, Mauritius, Sudan, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Egypt, The Gambia, India, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cambodia, Mali, Mongolia, Senegal, Hungary, Cape Verde, North Korea, Niger, Romania, Tanzania, Bulgaria, Maldives, Ghana, Togo, Zimbabwe, Chad, Laos, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Oman, Poland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Nepal, Burundi, Central African Republic, Bhutan, Western Sahara
