France’s recognition move a step in right direction, say Palestinians

Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, who is based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, told reporters on Thursday that France's recognition of Palestinian statehood “would be a step in the right direction in line with safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the two-state solution.”

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Hamas said on Thursday that the announcement by President Emmanuel Macron that France could recognise a Palestinian state by June was an "important step,” after Israel's foreign minister slammed the plan.

“We welcome the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding his country’s readiness to recognise the State of Palestine,” Hamas official Mahmud Mardawi told reporters.

He said the announcement was “an important step that, if implemented, would constitute a positive shift in the international position towards the legitimate national rights of our Palestinian people”.

On Wednesday, Macron said France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June.

“We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.

Mardawi said France’s move was important because it is a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council.

“France, as a country with political weight and a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council, has the ability to influence the course of fair solutions and push towards ending the occupation and achieving the aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Mardawi said.