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French President Emmanuel Macron has announced France will recognise Palestinian statehood, amid growing global anger over people starving in Gaza.
Macron said in a post on X he will formalise the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
He also posted a letter he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the decision.
“The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.” — Emmanuel Macron, French President.
France’s stance on Hamas-Israel war
Macron offered support for Israel after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about the war in Gaza, especially in recent months.
France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognise a Palestinian state.
More than 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.
France has Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.
Last month, Macron expressed his “determination to recognise the state of Palestine”, and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself.
How has Israel responded?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday France’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state “rewards terror” and poses an existential threat to Israel.
Netanyahu said in a statement the move “risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became”, which would be “a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it”.
“Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” he said.
The war between Hamas and Israel is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict.
Hamas is a Palestinian political and military group, which has governed the Gaza Strip since the most recent elections in 2006.
Hamas’s stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.
