Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognising the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.

Trump on Friday dismissed Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — a gentler response than sharp condemnation from Marco Rubio and other top Republicans, who blasted the move.

France has announced its intention to become the first member of the Group of Seven to recognize Palestine as a state. Ireland, Norway and Spain have already done so, breaking from a consensus within Western Europe and the US that the Palestinians should achieve statehood through negotiations with Israel.

Germany is not planning to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term and said its priority now is to make "long-overdue progress" towards a two-state solution, a German government spokesperson said on Friday.

There are 147 UN member states out of 193 that recognise the state of Palestine - but the UK is not one of them

The announcement by President Emmanuel Macron of his intention to recognise Palestinian statehood puts huge pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to follow suit. The French have been itching to take this step for some time.

More than half of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.