At the UN General Assembly on Monday, France became the latest global power to recognise Palestine statehood, a day after the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia did so.Portugal, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and Monaco have also confirmed their recognition of a State of Palestine.Israel has criticised the move, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stating that “the calls to create a Palestinian state…constitute an absurd prize for terrorism”.How does this recognition help Palestine, and does it change anything in the ongoing war?Impact on warObjectively, increased diplomatic recognition for Palestinian statehood is insufficient to alter the course of the ongoing war in Gaza, in the absence of decisive action against Israel.Israel is showing no signs of stopping — it has intensified its fresh offensive into Gaza City, and Netanyahu is on record saying the war won’t end even if Hamas releases all its hostages.Consequently, the burden of action to end the war is shifting to states facilitating Israeli non-compliance.Story continues below this adEuropean states, including the UK, are taking gradual steps to limit (but not cut off) export control licences, direct arms sales, spare components, and other military equipment to Israel.However, the United States continues to provide unconditional material and military support to Israel, and the Trump administration is set to clear $6.4 billion more in weapons sales. Moreover, Germany, which has not joined other European states in recognising Palestine, remains Israel’s second largest source of military material, with Washington and Berlin providing over 90% of Israeli defence imports.Hence, while the recognition of Palestine by more countries does increase international diplomatic pressure on Israel, there is little immediate impact on the war in Gaza. The UK, Canada, and Australia have all acknowledged this in their respective statements.International law and practice for an entity to be a “State” has four principal requirements, as implied in the 1933 Montevideo Convention — a defined territory; a permanent population; a government; and a capacity to enter into relations with other states.More countries recognising Palestine practically strengthens one of these.Story continues below this adTerritory: Israel practically occupies 100% of Palestinian territories, by virtue of its occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and now the Gaza Strip, and its decades-long control over air, land, and sea access to all these regions. These three regions represent the official State of Palestine that was established in 1988 according to pre-1967 borders, ceding Palestinian claims of sovereignty over Mandatory Palestine (Palestine as under the British mandate after World War I) and undivided Jerusalem (which fell under Israeli occupation).Palestinian control over its territories is set to decrease further with Israel’s construction of new settlements and the Knesset’s July vote to support Israeli “annexation” of the West Bank. On September 18, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described Gaza as a “real estate bonanza”, indicating Israel’s desired territorial control over the war-torn enclave.Permanent population: The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded on September 16 that “Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”Thus far, conservative estimates suggest that 10% of Gaza’s population has been killed or injured and independent estimates put the total death toll significantly past the 65,000-mark. The IDF’s push deeper into Gaza has resulted in over a million famine stricken Palestinians now in Gaza City facing continued indiscriminate bombardment. This, along with Israel’s stated aim of further attacks, threatens the second pillar of Palestinian statehood.Story continues below this adGovernment: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has acted as the de jure authority in limited enclaves of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but de facto control has been with Israel. In Gaza, Hamas has served as the de jure government after ejecting the PA in 2007 (following the PA’s initial refusal to accept Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006).However, Hamas has governed under Israel’s complete land, air, and naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.At present, global recognition of Palestine occurs alongside calls for the PA to reform, which it has committed to, and for Hamas to disarm and remove itself from Palestinian politics, which it has rejected. Even if the latter is achieved, a demilitarised Palestine will not be fully sovereign and Israel is unlikely to cede control over military and defence issues.Hence, the question of Palestinian governmental and administrative capabilities is also one for the “year after”, and currently, such capabilities are undermined by Israel’s illegal occupation.Story continues below this adThe reality on the ground does not weaken Palestine’s case to statehood, but proves that it is only the Palestinian capacity to conduct inter-state relations where greater international recognition of statehood yields a direct benefit, for now. It allows the Palestinian Authority better international means to lobby for an end that is almost completely reliant on Israel and the United States.How does this affect Israel?Israel’s response to greater global support for the Palestinian cause has usually been to double down on its military activity and entrench its occupation.Following the UK’s recognition of Palestine, Netanyahu asserted that “the response to the recent attempt to impose a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the US”, that “a Palestinian State will never be established”, and that he had personally “prevented the establishment of this terror state despite enormous pressures both from within and from outside” for years.Netanyahu had reacted similarly after the UNGA (including India) had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the two-state solution on September 13.Story continues below this adWith each passing day then, Israel’s fait accompli on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank increases, making a Palestinian state impossible to achieve.