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PARIS: Three-quarters of UN members have already or soon plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, with Australia on Monday becoming the latest to promise it will at the UN General Assembly in September.

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 a long-held view that Palestinians could only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

According to an AFP tally, at least 145 of the 193 UN members now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, including France, Canada and Britain.

Here is a quick recap of the Palestinians’ quest for statehood:

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 recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Within a week, dozens of other countries, including much of the Arab world, India, Turkiye, 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.

In 2011, with peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians pushed ahead with a campaign for full UN membership.

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 the Palestinians as a state party.

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 recognize a state of Palestine.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that “Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own” at the UN General Assembly.

France said last month it intends to recognize a Palestinian state come September, while Britain said it would do the same unless Israel takes “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Canada also plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, marking a dramatic policy shift that was immediately rejected by Israel.

Among other countries that could also formally express recognition, Malta, Finland and Portugal have raised the possibility.

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Al Jazeera said two of its correspondents, including a prominent reporter, and three cameramen were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City on Sunday.
The Israeli military admitted in a statement to targeting Anas Al-Sharif, the reporter it labelled as a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas.
The attack was the latest to see journalists targeted in the 22-month war in Gaza, with around 200 media workers killed over the course of the conflict, according to media watchdogs.
“Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif has been killed alongside four colleagues in a targeted Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City,” the Qatar-based broadcaster said.
“Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on Sunday after a tent for journalists outside the main gate of the hospital was hit. The well-known Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reportedly extensively from northern Gaza.”
The channel said that five of its staff members were killed during the strike on a tent in Gaza City, listing the others as Mohammed Qreiqeh along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out the attack, saying it had struck Al Jazeera’s Al-Sharif and calling him a “terrorist” who “posed as a journalist.”
“A short while ago, in Gaza City, the IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network,” it said on Telegram, using an acronym for the military.
“Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” it added.
Al-Sharif was one of the channel’s most recognizable faces working on the ground in Gaza, providing daily reports in regular coverage.
Following a press conference by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, where the premier defended approving a new offensive in Gaza, Al-Sharif posted messages on X describing “intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment” on Gaza City.
One of his final messages included a short video showing nearby Israeli strikes hitting Gaza City.
In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement calling for his protection as it accused the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee of stepping up online attacks on the reporter by alleging that he was a Hamas terrorist.
Following the attack, the CPJ said it was “appalled” to learn of the journalists’ deaths.
“Israel’s pattern of labelling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable.”
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned what it described as a “bloody crime” of assassination.
Israel and Al Jazeera have had a contentious relationship for years, with Israeli authorities banning the channel in the country and raiding its offices following the latest war in Gaza.
Qatar, which partly funds Al Jazeera, has hosted an office for the Hamas political leadership for years and been a frequent venue for indirect talks between Israel and the militant group.

With Gaza sealed off, many media groups around the world, including AFP, depend on photo, video and text coverage of the conflict provided by Palestinian reporters.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in early July that more than 200 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began, including several Al Jazeera journalists.
International criticism is growing over the plight of the more than two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza, with UN agencies and rights groups warning that a famine is unfolding in the territory.
The targeted strike comes as Israel announced plans to expand its military operations on the ground in Gaza, with Netanyahu saying on Sunday that the new offensive was set to target the remaining Hamas strongholds there.
He also announced a plan to allow more foreign journalists to report inside Gaza with the military, as he laid out his vision for victory in the territory.
A UN official warned the Security Council that Israel’s plans to control Gaza City risked “another calamity” with far-reaching consequences.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” UN Assistant Secretary General Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council.