France will soon recognize a Palestinian state, President Emmanuel Macron announced on X on Thursday.
Macron made the decision known on Thursday in a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. The French president will officially announce the recognition of Palestine during a United Nations meeting in September.
“The first priority is to stop the war in Gaza and provide assistance to the population,” Macron writes. The president emphasizes the need for an immediate ceasefire, the demilitarization of Hamas, and the reconstruction of Gaza. “Finally, it is essential to build and maintain the Palestinian state,” Macron continues. According to him, it is important that such a state is demilitarized and recognizes Israel as a state.
Such a two-state solution has often been proposed as a solution to the long-running conflict between the Palestinians and Israel. But a two-state solution is becoming increasingly difficult due to the growing hatred between the warring parties.
Macron’s decision to recognize Palestine is therefore symbolic, but not unimportant. France is the first of the G7 countries (the seven countries with the world’s largest economies) to do so. Moreover, it symbolizes the increasingly critical attitude that European countries are taking towards Israel, which is waging a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.
Many Western countries do not recognize Palestine
“There is no alternative,” Macron concludes his message. “The French people want peace in the Middle East. It is up to us, the French, together with the Israelis, the Palestinians and our European and international partners to show that it is possible.”
Currently, more than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a number of EU member states. But because of the historical, good ties with Israel, many Western countries, including the Netherlands and the United States, do not recognize Palestine.
The Gaza Strip and West Bank together form the Palestinian Territories. But a large part of that territory is under Israeli military control.