Palestine and statehood: How it might happen and what it would mean

Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in which more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, has increased pressure on the rest of the world to endorse Palestinian statehood.

Formal recognition of Palestine by other countries is not new, and has been growing since the late 1980s.

But it's only during the past decade that Western nations have followed suit in increasing numbers.

On 24 July, France announced that it intended to recognise Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which begins on 9 September, the first G7 nation to do so.

“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.