Portugal to officially recognise Palestinian state on Sunday

Portugal’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it will recognise the Palestinian state on Sunday, ahead of the UN General Assembly session where the Israel-Hamas war will be in focus.

With this announcement, Portugal has become a part of countries like Britain, Canada and France, which will give a Palestinian state recognition at the assembly, as Israel ramps up its ground offensive in Gaza.

Lisbon had already announced in July that it intended to do so, given the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict”, as well as the humanitarian crisis and Israel’s repeated threats to annex Palestinian land.

“The ministry of foreign affairs confirms that Portugal will recognise the State of Palestine… the official declaration of recognition will be made on Sunday, September 21,” a statement on the ministry’s website said.

Which other countries are part of the list?

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could recognise the Palestinian state as early as this weekend. Starmer delayed the announcement until after US President Donald Trump’s visit over concerns that the issue could dominate their press conference on Thursday.

Earlier this year, Starmer said the United Kingdom would recognise the Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly session in September if Israel did not take substantive actions to end the conflict in Gaza and improve the humanitarian crisis.

In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country would officially recognise a Palestinian state in September, angering many Israeli leaders.

The president stated that a formal announcement on this matter would be made at a United Nations General Assembly session. “The urgent need today is for the war in Gaza to end and for the civilian population to be rescued. Peace is possible. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” Macron wrote.