French President Macron says France will recognize Palestine as a state
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, in a bold diplomatic move amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision.
Macron said that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,' he wrote.
France is now the biggest Western power to recognize Palestine, and the move could pave the way for other countries to do the same. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 25, 2025 12:14 AM
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The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward militants after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
‘’We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. ‘’Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it.'
The Palestinian Authority welcomed it. A letter announcing the move was presented Thursday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem.
‘’We express our thanks and appreciation' to Macron, Hussein Al Sheikh, the PLO's vice president under Abbas, posted. ‘’This position reflects France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination.'
There was no immediate reaction from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
With Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, France has often seen fighting in the Middle East spill over into protests or other tensions at home.
The French president offered support for Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel's war in Gaza.
″Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the state of Palestine,' Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.'
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 24, 2025 11:56 PM
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