France to become first G7 nation to recognise State of Palestine

Paris: President Emmanuel Macron announced late Thursday that France would recognize the state of Palestine as part of “its historical commitment to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

In a surprise statement on social platform X that followed months of hints and hesitations over possible French recognition of a Palestinian state, he said that he would make a formal announcement to that effect at the United Nations General Assembly in September in New York.

“Today the most urgent thing is that the war in Gaza cease and the civilian population be helped,” Macron said. His statement came as anger mounted across the world over the continued Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip and growing starvation there.

France would become the first of the Group of 7 major industrialized nations — also including the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy — to recognize a Palestinian state. The decision appeared likely to irk the Trump administration as it stands behind Israel and pursues its own attempts to end the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily to the French move. He said in a statement that “we strongly condemn Mr. Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre” of 2023, adding that a Palestinian state could become “a launchpad to annihilate Israel.”

Israel has consistently opposed French recognition of Palestinian statehood, saying it would reward Hamas terrorism and accusing Macron of leading “a crusade against the Jewish state.” Relations between the two countries have become strained and now appear certain to worsen.

The announcement came on the same day that the United States and Israel walked away from Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, accusing Hamas of not acting in good faith.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that “The United States strongly rejects” Macron’s plan. His post continued, “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”

Hala Abou-Hassira, the Palestinian ambassador to France, applauded Macron’s decision, saying in a television interview that it demonstrated a France “faithful to its history, faithful to its policies, and faithful to international law.” She added that the message to Israel and the United States was clear: “One cannot continue to impose facts on the ground, facts that render a two-state solution impossible.”

Other European states, including Spain, Ireland and Norway, recognized a Palestinian state last year, but the French decision is of a different order. France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in western Europe, and is the only nuclear power and only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in the European Union.

Macron, like a growing number of world leaders, has been exasperated by Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war despite the fact that Gaza has largely been reduced to rubble and tens of thousands of its inhabitants killed. Netanyahu’s refusal to offer any plan for the future governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza after the fighting stops has also incensed the French president and other international leaders.

“Confidence, clarity and engagement,” Macron wrote, without elaborating. “We will win the peace.” But of course for the moment there is no peace. Still, his words indicate a conviction that a path to a two-state peace still exists, even as the possibility of achieving that appears ever more remote.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank. Their numbers and settlements are growing, steadily chipping away at the territory widely seen as the core of a Palestinian state. The more extreme members of Netanyahu’s right-wing government have suggested that all Palestinians should leave the ruins of Gaza. Netanyahu himself has dedicated his political career to ensuring no Palestinian state emerges, a view that has gained broader Israeli support since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

With President Donald Trump apparently unwilling to pressure Netanyahu to end the war, and Macron’s relations with the White House strained by differences over Ukraine, tariffs and personal insults, the French leader apparently felt the moment had come to stand apart from the United States and offer a distinct European vision for the Middle East.

It was not clear whether other members of the Group of 7 would follow the French example, although France indicated it hoped that would happen. Nor was it clear what territory France would recognize as comprising a Palestinian state.

“It’s a powerful symbol, but without really doing anything on the ground to change Palestinians’ plight,” Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in an email message. “It’s largely virtue signaling.”

In a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, posted at the same time as his statement, Macron said it was urgent to pursue “the only viable solution that honors the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, that ends terrorism and violence in all its forms, and that permits Israel and all the countries of the region to live in peace and security.”

He noted Abbas’ call in a letter last month for Hamas to “hand over its weapons,” immediately free all hostages, and leave Gaza. The Palestinian leader also committed to holding elections and to reforming the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and has earned a reputation for corruption and ineffectiveness.

Such Palestinian promises have been made before only to prove empty.

“I will be particularly attentive to the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza, to the liberation of all hostages still held by Hamas, to its disarmament, and to the consolidation of the Palestinian Authority across all Palestinian territories,” Macron wrote.

He added a handwritten greeting: “With my confidence and my engagement for the peace and security of all.”

Most nations of the world recognize Palestinian statehood, but the United States and most of its major allies do not.

The French announcement came as it had appeared that France was backing away from the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state.

A conference next week at the United Nations about a two-state peace, chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, has effectively been downgraded, with neither Macron nor Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the de facto Saudi ruler, appearing, as they had been scheduled to do last month.

The conference was postponed in June because of fighting between Israel and Iran. A French diplomat, who declined to be named in keeping with official practice, said Saudi Arabia had been evasive about setting a new date. Trump has been fiercely opposed to the conference, placing the Saudi crown prince in a delicate position.

With the conference apparently losing momentum and relevance, Macron decided to make a bold move to galvanize it. As he has shown repeatedly over eight years in power, and in his rise to the presidency at the age of 38, he is a risk taker by nature, although not always one who has adequately prepared the ground for his gambles to yield fruit.