Australia, Britain, Canada and France became the latest Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state last month, but the backing has cost Palestinians rights in other countries since they are no longer considered stateless, a legal expert said.

Patrícia Cabral, legal policy coordinator at the European Network on Statelessness, a civil society alliance, cited the examples of Bulgaria, Hungary and Norway, where Palestinians had seen their rights curtailed after statehood recognition.

Recognising a Palestinian state aims to pressure Israel to end its two-year assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 66,000 people, displaced 1.9 million and led to famine.

A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in September that Israel had committed genocide in the narrow 40 km strip of land, an asses

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