France, allies move to recognise Palestinian state amid UN week

FRANCE and other countries prepared to recognise a Palestinian state as the UN’s centrepiece diplomatic week got under way yesterday, following a rash of Western governments in symbolically endorsing statehood and sparking Israel’s wrath.

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Recognition by Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal at the weekend of a Palestinian state piled pressure on Israel as it intensifies its war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands, devastated the enclave and drawn vocal rebukes from its allies.

President Emmanuel Macron indicated France would follow suit yesterday as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution - Palestinian and Israeli coexistence.

“They want a nation, they want a state, and we should not push them towards Hamas,” Macron told CBS News's “Face the Nation” at the weekend, adding that the move would help isolate the armed group.

He also said that he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, a precondition of opening an embassy to the Palestinian state.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the recognition moves do not “promote peace, but on the contrary further destabilises the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future”.