Belgium will recognise the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) later this month, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot has announced.

“Palestine will be recognised by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions will be imposed against the Israeli government,” Prevot, who is also the deputy prime minister, wrote on the social media platform X early on Tuesday.

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Prevot said Belgium would also impose 12 “firm sanctions” on Israel, including a ban on importing products from the settlements, and “a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies”.

He added that the announcement was made “in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza”.

At the end of July, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise Palestine at the UNGA, which will be held from September 9 to 23 in New York.

Following this, several other countries have announced that they will do the same, although some have said they intend to place conditions on their recognition.

As of April this year, some 147 countries, representing 75 percent of UN members, have already recognised Palestinian statehood.

Belgium’s announcement comes as Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 63,459 people and wounded 160,256 more.

In July, Belgian prosecutors referred a war crimes complaint against two Israeli soldiers to the International Criminal Court (ICC), following allegations that they participated in atrocities in Gaza.

This is a breaking news story. More soon.