Portugal formally recognises Palestinian state

Portugal's Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Rangel announced on Sunday that the country has now recognised the state of Palestine.

"The recognition of the state of Palestine is the realization of a fundamental, constant, and fundamental line of Portuguese foreign policy," Rangel told reporters at the headquarters of Portugal's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, reports Reuters.

He said that "Portugal advocates the two-state solution as the only path to a just and lasting peace...a ceasefire is urgent", adding Hamas "cannot have any form of control in Gaza or outside it" and demanding the release of all hostages.

Rangel also said that recognizing the state of Palestine "does not erase the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," and he also condemned the situation of starvation there, the destruction, and the "expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank."

Portugal was recognising Palestine alongside Britain, Canada and Australia.