French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will recognise Palestine as a state amid growing global anger over people starving in the Gaza Strip due to restrictions on aid imposed by Israel.
In a statement posted on X, Macron said that the decision will be formalised at the UN General Assembly in September.
″Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,” Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.”
“The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civil population is saved,” read Macron’s statement, which also included a letter sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas regarding the decision.
The announcement makes France the biggest and most powerful European country to recognise Palestine. Currently, 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, more than a dozen of them European.
The French president in June expressed a “determination to recognise the state of Palestine”, and advocated for a broader movement towards a two-state solution while also emphasising a recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself.
The announcement also came a very short while after the US departed ceasefire talks on Gaza that were being held in Qatar, claiming that Hamas was lacking “good faith”.
France has Europe’s largest Jewish population, as well as the largest Muslim population in western Europe.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on Macron’s announcement.
This story is developing and our journalists will update it as more news comes through.
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