The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it has formally recognised Palestine as a state, joining a growing number of countries doing so in recent weeks, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement published on Tuesday, The Bahamas said it had joined the “Caribbean Community’s consensus on this matter”.

“The Bahamas became an independent nation in 1973 as an act of self-determination. Therefore, The Bahamas supports the legal right of the Palestinian people of self-determination,” the statement said.

Last week, the government of Trinidad and Tobago announced that it was officially recognising the State of Palestine, while several EU countries are set to recognise Palestine as an independent state by the end of May.