PARIS — Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state after nearly two years of war in Gaza, with France, Belgium and other countries poised to follow suit at the UN General Assembly.

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.

Which countries recognise or will recognise the State of Palestine?

Answer: three-quarters of UN members.

According to an AFP tally, at least 145 countries out of 193 UN members now recognise the State of Palestine.

AFP has not yet obtained recent confirmation from three African countries.

The count includes Britain and Canada — the first G7 countries to do so —, Australia and Portugal.

Several other countries including France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta are expected to follow suit during a summit on the future of the two-state solution chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Russia, alongside all Arab countries, almost all African and Latin American countries, and most Asian countries 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 (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state.

Dozens of other countries followed suit in the following 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 Islamist organisation Hamas’s attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, has now driven another 13 countries to recognise the state.