Slovenia's parliament on Tuesday approved the recognition of an independent Palestinian state by a majority vote, after Spain, Ireland and Norway recently did so.
The Government of Slovenia made a decision on the recognition of the Slovenian state on May 30.
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On May 28, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized the Palestinian state, which provoked a strong reaction from Israel.
Of the 27 European Union members, a Palestinian state has previously been recognized by Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, while Malta has announced it may soon do so.
Great Britain and Australia have said they are considering recognition, and France has said now is not the time.
"With today's recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, we give hope to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza," Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob wrote online.
The right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former prime minister Janez Janša demanded a referendum on recognition, which would delay a vote in parliament for at least a month.
SDS, the largest opposition party, argued that this was not the right time to recognize an independent Palestinian state and that the move would only reward the "terrorist organization Hamas".
After the ruling coalition, which has a majority in parliament, tried to find a way to bypass the referendum request and vote on recognition, SDS withdrew the proposal, only to resubmit it a few hours later.
However, the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, at an extraordinary session, rejected the request as inadequate. In the end, the decision on recognition was supported by 52 out of 90 deputies, and no one was against it after the members of parliament from SDS left the session.
Israel has been fighting Hamas, which runs Gaza, since extremists from the group attacked Israeli territory on October 7, killing about 1.200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Almost 130 hostages are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza.
Health officials in the enclave said more than 36.000 Palestinians had died in the war in the past seven months.
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