Nabil Sha’ath, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, told the Voice of Palestine radio Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic are expected to follow in the footsteps of seven other South American countries and announce their support for Palestine.

Sha’ath, also member of negotiations team with Israel, was referring to the Latin American countries of Guyana, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

The United States and Israel slammed the decision saying they are counterproductive and damaging.

He added that Sha’ath said that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would affirm on Tuesday during a visit to West Bank city of Jericho the Soviet Union’s 1988 recognition of a Palestinian.

For the Palestinians, such moves “are initial steps” to recognize “Palestine” as an independent state. The Palestinians seek to get international recognition of their state in response to the breakdown of peace talks with Israel after the Israeli government resumed building settlements in the West Bank in September.

Meanwhile, the director of Israeli internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that one of the scenarios in terms of international recognition of a Palestinian state is that additional countries, including European counties, will join the move.

In December, the EU said it will recognize the Palestinian state “when appropriate.” The United States said that the Palestinian state should be a result of a negotiated solution with Israel.

The development came hours before Medvedev visit to Palestinian territories for meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas described Medvedev’s visit as “historic.” The president told the official news agency Wafa that the “visit is historic by all standards… and emphasizes the depth of relations between the Palestinian people and Russian people.”

The Palestinian Authority announced the Allenby Bridge crossing on the border between Jordan and West Bank PA would close Tuesday in both directions between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., due to the visit.

Medvedev is expected to inaugurate the Jericho Museum, built by Russia on lands donated for the project by the Orthodox Church in 2008.

Medvedev called off his planned visit to Israel when the Israeli Foreign Ministry workers’ strike made it impossible to make preparations for the tour.

Palestinian media sources said that the cancellation of Medvedev’s visit to Israel was viewed as “a huge embarrassment to Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who was born in the former Soviet Union.”