'I'm not sure this helps us much': European countries are recognizing an official Palestinian state

Will these new recognitions, which the U.S. and larger European nations have not joined, bring full Palestinian statehood closer and improve the lives of Palestinians?( )

It has a flag. A national anthem. Diplomats. Even its own international dialing code. In fact, three-quarters of the world's 195 countries − 143 U.N. member states plus the Vatican and Western Sahara − say it is a state.( )

A decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognize an independent Palestinian state, which officially takes effect Tuesday, comes nearly eight months into Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and decades into one of the world's most high-profile and intractable conflicts, between Israelis and Palestinians.( )

But what does this formal statehood label mean? And will these recognitions, which the U.S. and larger European nations have not joined, bring full Palestinian statehood closer, and improve the lives of Palestinians?( )

Rowan Nicholson, a scholar of international law at Australia's Flinders University, said that to qualify as a state four criteria are typically required: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and independence.( )

He said the conditions for statehood are both fairly rigid and a matter of debate.

"The criteria have developed over the centuries through the practice of states. There’s no single definitive written version of them; they are fuzzy and open to interpretation," said Nicholson, who has worked on cases before the International Court of Justice, a Hague, Netherlands-based court that last week ordered Israel to halt its military operation in Rafah, in Gaza, as part of a war crimes allegations case brought by South Africa.

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