This week The 80th United Nations General Assembly startsa specific summit that will try to give a solution of two states – Israel and Palestine – promoted by France and Saudi Arabia and in which several countries are expected to announce the recognition of Palestine. On Sunday they advanced with the official recognition of the Palestinian State in a historic step.
With them, They are around 150 countries, Of the total of 193 that they sit at the UN, who have made the recognition official, and this week they will continue to add more. France (chaired by the International Conference on Monday with Saudi Arabia), Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg and Andorra have announced that they will be the next to do so. In addition, San Marino and New Zealand have expressed their intention to carry out recognition, although they have not given dates.
However, countries as relevant in the international context such as Germany, Italy, Holland, Greece, Austria or Finland have not yet done so, leaving in evidence that it is one of the most divisive issues of European foreign policy. Faced with this, recognition is practically unanimous in Latin America (except Panama) and Africa (except Cameroon and Eritrea).
This occurs at the same time as Israel, narrow – even more – the fence to take the Gazatí capital and displace from there its million inhabitants of an already razed land after almost two years of war that has claimed the lives of at least 65,208 Palestinians, including more than 19,000 children, according to the figures of the Ministry of Health of Gaza.
Palestine’s declaration of independence proclaimed the establishment of the State of Palestine on November 15, 1988 in Algiers in an extraordinary session of the Palestinian National Council in exile. This statement was quickly recognized days and weeks later by various developing countries in Africa and Asia, as well as by states of the communist bloc and not aligned. At the end of that year, up to 80 countries had recognized the state of Palestine.
After the members of the Arab League, Cuba and Nicaragua They became the first Latin American countries to recognize Palestine in 1988 – Colombia became in 2018 the last South American country to do so. That same year also did the extinct Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria and much of the African and Asian states, including China and the former USSR.
The following year to highlight in the calendar of the Palestinians is 2011, when until 17 countries recognized the state of Palestine. From Chile on January 7, passing through Guayana, Peru and Uruguay, to Syria, El Salvador and Iceland, among them.
However, the debate on Palestine’s recognition was not taken seriously andIn the member countries of the European Union Until October 30, 2014, when Sweden joined this gesture. This caused that the British Parliament and the Irish Senate then approved resolutions to ask its executives to join the list of countries that already officially recognize Palestine as a state.
Spain, meanwhile, joined May 28, 2024when he formalized the recognition with Ireland and Norway. Meanwhile, Slovenia did it on June 4 and Armenia on the 21st of that same month. A prolific year in which Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bahamas had already been officially spoken.
But this year, after recognition on February 5, 2025 by Mexico, that of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal on Sunday and those expected to join in the next few hours, Palestine will take a historical step, although already more symbolic than effective, for an already razed country.
On the other side of the balance is the United Stateswho on numerous occasions has remained only among his partners in terms of the Palestinian issue. In fact, he tried to torpedo the UN Assembly by denying the entrance visas to the Palestine Delegation, which can finally participate by videoconference.
Last week, in addition, the US president, Donald Trump, considered that one of “the few differences” that he maintains with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, is the latter’s commitment to Palestine’s recognition. “I do not agree with the prime minister about it. It is one of our few disagreements, in fact,” he said at a press conference with the British representative.
