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A majority of European countries now recognise the State of Palestine, following official declarations in New York on Monday by France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and others, after nearly two years of war in Gaza.

Here is an overview of diplomatic recognition of the state, which was unilaterally proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.

Of the territory claimed by the state, Israel currently occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is largely in ruins.

According to an AFP tally, at least 151 countries out of 193 UN members now recognise the State of Palestine.

AFP has not obtained recent confirmation from three African countries.

Six European nations — France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra and Monaco — added their names to the list with statements at the UN on Monday.

The day before, the United Kingdom and Canada became the first G7 countries to make such a recognition, with Australia and Portugal also following suit.

Russia, alongside all Arab countries, almost all African and Latin American states, and most Asian nations — including India and China — are already on the list.

Algeria became the first country to officially recognise a Palestinian state on November 15, 1988, minutes after late Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state.

Dozens of other countries followed in the ensuing weeks and months, and another wave of recognitions came in late 2010 and early 2011.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza, which was sparked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, has now pushed another 19 countries to recognise the state.

Under president Donald Trump, Washington has argued this is effectively rewarding Hamas for the attack.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government completely rejects the idea of a Palestinian state.

Among Asia nations, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are among those that do not recognise Palestine.

Neither do Cameroon in Africa, Panama in Latin America and most countries in Oceania.

Until recently, Europe was the most divided continent on the issue, with only Turkey and former Soviet bloc countries recognising Palestinian statehood until the mid-2010s.

Some former members of the Eastern bloc, like Hungary and the Czech Republic, still do not recognise it at a bilateral level.

Western and northern Europe were once united in their lack of recognition, with the exception of Sweden, which extended it in 2014.

But the war in Gaza has upended things, with Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia following in Sweden’s footsteps in 2024, before the additions of recent days.

Italy and Germany do not plan on recognising a Palestinian state.

Romain Le Boeuf, a professor in international law at the University of Aix-Marseille in southern France, described recognition of Palestinian statehood as ‘one of the most complicated questions’ in international law, ‘a little like a halfway point’ between the political and legal.

He said that states were free to choose the timing and form of recognition, with wide variations.

According to Le Boeuf, there is no office to register recognitions.

‘The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank puts all they consider to be acts of recognition on its own list, but from a purely subjective point of view. In the same way, other states will say that they have or have not recognised it, but without really having to justify themselves,’ he said.

However, there is one point on which international law is quite clear: ‘Recognition does not mean that a state has been created, no more than the lack of recognition prevents the state from existing.’

While recognition carries largely symbolic and political weight, three-quarters of countries say ‘that Palestine meets all the necessary conditions to be a state’, he said.

‘I know for many people this seems only symbolic, but actually in terms of symbolism, it is sort of a game changer,’ lawyer and Franco-British law professor Philippe Sands told a New York Times podcast in August.

‘Because once you recognise Palestinian statehood you essentially put Palestine and Israel on level footing in terms of their treatment under international law.’