France has announced its decision to recognize Palestine as a state, amid global anger over the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The move puts added diplomatic pressure on Israel as the war and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip rage. 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.
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. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned Macron’s decision, stating that such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. The Palestinian Authority welcomed the move, and a letter announcing the move was presented to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem.
The United States “strongly rejects” Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a post on social platform X. France has often seen fighting in the Middle East spill over into protests or other tensions at home. Macron expressed his “determination to recognize 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.
