Some 160 states have signed up to recognize a Palestinian state. In the last week, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia have done so, but the prospect of it becoming a reality amid US opposition and Israeli resistance is at best a distant one.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Britain and other Western allies of giving Hamas a "prize," saying: "It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.

Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg on Tuesday challenged countries that have recognised a Palestinian state to back up what she called "symbolic gestures" with more pressure on Israel to end its offensive on the Gaza Strip.

President Emmanuel Macron, backed by several other European countries, described France's move as a "necessity".

Dozens of world leaders gathered to rally support for a two-state solution at the U.N. General Assembly after a number of U.S. allies formally recognized Palestine as a state.

Israel's military pushed deeper towards the most populated areas of Gaza City on Tuesday, a painful reminder for Gazans that Western powers' recognition of a Palestinian state does not mean an end to the horrors of war as tanks approach.

Both the Israeli and US governments say the UK's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood is a diplomatic gift for Hamas following its attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

France, Britain and the other countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week say they aim to salvage whatever hope remains for the internationally backed formula to end the half-century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: a Jewish state of Israel at peace with a neighboring Palestinian one.

Spain’s top diplomat dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there will never be a Palestinian state.