While the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez has been seeking support for the recognition of the Palestinian state, Norway announced that it is ready to recognise the Palestinian state together with other countries.

"Norway is ready to make a decision on recognising a Palestinian state," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a joint press conference with Sánchez.

"This decision must be taken in close coordination with like-minded countries, taking into account timing and context. We have not set a specific timetable," he added.

In November, the Norwegian Parliament passed a motion tabled by the ruling parties asking the government to be prepared to recognise a Palestinian state.

Norway also hosted the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the early 1990s, which led to the now moribund Oslo Accords, in which the two sides agreed to peaceful coexistence between two independent states.

According to a Spanish government spokesperson, the Spanish Prime Minister visited Poland, Norway and Ireland this week and spoke about "the need for progress towards the recognition of Palestine".

"Spain is publicly committed to recognising a Palestinian state as soon as possible, when the conditions are favourable and in such a way as to have the strongest possible positive impact on the peace process," Sánchez said in a statement in Oslo.

"I welcome Prime Minister Sánchez's initiative to consult with like-minded countries to strengthen coordination and we will intensify this coordination in the coming weeks," the Norwegian Prime Minister said.

Sanchez made similar statements to the press accompanying him on his tour of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week.

The Socialist leader had mentioned the end of June as a possible date for such recognition by the Spanish government.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, Sánchez has often criticised the position of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to the Palestinian Authority, 137 of the 193 UN member states have recognised the State of Palestine.

In the EU, however, only Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, did so in 2014. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus recognised the State of Palestine before joining the EU.