Ireland has formally recognized the state of Palestine, joining Spain and Norway, the Irish government announced Tuesday.

"The government has decided to recognize the state of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state and has agreed to establish full diplomatic relations between Dublin and Ramallah," a government statement said, adding that the recognition was approved at a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning.

According to the statement, cited by Reuters, "an Irish ambassador to the state of Palestine will be appointed and an embassy of Ireland will be established in Ramallah."

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said the decision was aimed at keeping alive the hope of peace. "Ireland's decision is about keeping hope alive. It is about our belief that the two-state solution is the only way to ensure that Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security," he said in a statement.

"I once again call on the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, to heed the call of the world and end the humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza," he added.

It should be recalled that Norway and Spain also formally recognized the state of Palestine on Tuesday, as expected.

Slovenia and Malta have also said they are considering taking this step soon and joining Spain, Ireland and Norway.

More than 140 countries already recognize Palestine as a state, some of them members of the European Union (EU), such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, which took the step in 1988, before joining the European bloc.

Sweden did the same in 2014, fulfilling an electoral promise by the Social Democrats then in power.

The conflict was triggered by an attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israel has launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has caused more than 36,000 deaths and a serious humanitarian crisis, according to Hamas, which has ruled the Palestinian enclave since 2007.

[News updated at 13:07]

Read Also: Norway recognizes the state of Palestine and says that today is a "memorable day" (Portuguese version)