French President #Macron says France will recognize #Palestine as a state

By ANGELA CHARLTON
Updated 9:34 PM EDT, July 24, 2025

PARIS (AP) — "French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, in a bold diplomatic move amid snowballing #GlobalAnger over people starving in #Gaza. Israel denounced the decision.

"Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the U.N. General Assembly in September. 'The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,' he wrote.

"The mostly symbolic move puts added diplomatic pressure on Israel as the war and #HumanitarianCrisis in the #GazaStrip 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 #PalestinianState, 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.

" '’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.' "

https://apnews.com/article/france-recognize-palestine-state-macron-800ed63143f0653a7f215ad96f7038d3

#France #WorldPol #FreeGaza #FreePalestine #EndTheBlockade #GazaGenocide #TwoState
#IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal #IsraeliIsAPetroState #BritishGas #PetroCriminals