‘The time for peace has come’: Macron announces France’s recognition of Palestine
Emmanuel Macron announces that France has formally recognized the Palestinian state.
“We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” he says.
The time has come.
This is why, true to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
This is why I declare that today, France recognizes the state of Palestine.
Key events
António Guterres acknowledges the Palestinian delegation and highlights “that they were denied the opportunity to be fully represented” at this summit.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addresses the UN on behalf of the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Thanking Macron for recognising a Palestinian state, he reiterates that a two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region.
Macron also called for a transitional administration in Gaza involving the Palestinian Authority, that will be tasked with overseeing the dismantling of Hamas.
He says France is ready to contribute to a “stabilisation mission” in Gaza, raising the prospect of an international security presence in the territory.
As we previewed earlier, he also said France will only open an embassy to a Palestinian state when all the hostages being held by Hamas are released and a ceasefire has been agreed to.
Macron reframes Palestinian recognition as ‘a defeat for Hamas’
Earlier in his speech, Macron said the recognition of a Palestinian state is the “only solution that will allow for Israel to live in peace”, calling the move a “defeat for Hamas” (clapping back to Israeli and the US claims that recognising Palestine “rewards” Hamas).
The recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people “takes nothing away from the rights of the people of Israel, who France supported from day one”, Macron said.
France has never wavered, standing by side, by Israel’s side, even when its security was at stake, including when there were Iranian air strikes. This recognition of the state of Palestine is a defeat for Hamas.
The second priority is to rebuild Gaza, Macron says, along with the dismemberment and dismantlement of Hamas.
Once a ceasefire is agreed, a massive collective effort to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
It is Israel’s “absolute obligation” to facilitate humanitarian access to its population.
He calls on Israel to do nothing more to thwart negotiations with Hamas.
This recognition paves the way for peace negotiations, Macron says.
The top priority, he says, is the release of the remaining 48 hostages and an end to the military operations throughout Gaza.
‘The time for peace has come’: Macron announces France’s recognition of Palestine
Emmanuel Macron announces that France has formally recognized the Palestinian state.
“We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” he says.
The time has come.
This is why, true to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
This is why I declare that today, France recognizes the state of Palestine.
‘Nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza,’ says Macron
Macron says that he wants the fulfilment of the promise of the UN charter of “two states living side by side in peace and security”.
But Israel is expanding its military operation in Gaza, he says, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced, injured, famished, traumatised, their lives destroyed, although Hamas has been significantly weakened”.
“Nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza,” he says. “Nothing.”
“On the contrary, everything compels us to definitively end it since we didn’t do it earlier,” he says. “We must do it to save lives.”
Macron condemns antisemitism and also pays tribute to those killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. “We will never, ever forget them,” he says.
Macron says that while Israel was created in 1947, the promise of the creation of an Arab state in mandatory Palestine remains unfulfilled.
‘We can no longer wait’ to recognise Palestine, says Macron
“Some might say it’s too late, some might say it’s too early, but one thing is certain: we can no longer wait,” says Macron.
France poised to recognise Palestine as key UN summit begins
A key UN conference, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, has just started in New York, where France is set to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
French president Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman are due to speak first, followed by UN secretary general António Guterres and then other world leaders.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will also speak, but only via video link after the Trump administration declined to issue visas for Abbas and his delegation to attend the gathering in New York.
Emmanuel Macron arrives inside the United Nations general assembly hall. Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/AP
Asked if he could rule out the Israeli annexation of the West Bank as a response to the wave of recognition of Palestine, Danny Danon replied:
Firstly, I don’t like the word ‘annexation’; I call it ‘applying sovereignty’. When something belongs to you, you don’t annex.
He added that the government would have to discuss it.
Arab and Muslim leaders to meet Trump to discuss peace plan for Gaza
As I reported earlier, Arab and Muslim leaders are to meet Donald Trump in New York tomorrow to discuss their plan for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force in Gaza as France plans to join the UK, Canada and Australia in recognising Palestine as a state.
The recognition of Palestine by France and five other states is due to play out in dramatic fashion later today on the floor of the UN general assembly as France and Saudi Arabia co-chair a summit to discuss the future of a two-state solution, a road map to peace that Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a dead-end.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, derided the session as an “embarrassing political circus” and the US has warned its allies that the recognition of Palestine could lead to a “reciprocal” Israeli reaction, setting the scene for a major diplomatic crisis as world leaders meet in New York for the 80th anniversary of the UN.
The Trump meeting, scheduled after his address to the UN’s general assembly, is the most direct engagement between the White House and Arab states on post-ceasefire plans for Gaza since he was elected president for a second time.
Trump is expected to deliver an aggressive speech decrying “globalist institutions” on Tuesday which he will claim have “have significantly decayed the world order”, a White House spokesperson said in a briefing.
The US president is also expected to meet leaders from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Nothing Trump has done so far suggests that he shares the view held by the Gulf states that the PA is a viable alternative to Hamas, or should be considered a partner for peace. He has imposed sanctions on PA officials and banned Mahmoud Abbas, its 89-year-old leader, from coming to New York to speak to the UN.
Arab leaders see the meeting as a chance to pin down Trump on whether he supports the Arab League’s proposals for Gaza’s future, or even a variation put to him by a working group led by Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, and Jared Kushner, who is the president’s son-in-law. Neither of the reconstruction plans proposes the mass expulsion of Palestinians, a proposal that Trump at times has appeared to support. The Blair plan does not clearly endorse the PA as the long-term administrators for Gaza.
The Arab states are likely to insist they will not join any international force unless the reformed PA is given a future role.They also want a roadmap to a two-state future that excludes further Israeli settlements or annexation of the West Bank.
Danon doubled down that Israel will react to the wave of nations formally recognizing a Palestinian state.
Asked what the reaction will be, he deferred to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and said it would be discussed after the Jewish new year (this year Rosh Hashanah falls today – Wednesday) and after Netanyahu returns from Washington later this week.
Asked about the letter Hamas has reportedly drafted to Donald Trump pledging to immediately return half of the hostages in their custody in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, Danon said he’s seen the report but is unsure of its veracity.
He said only that Hamas knows Israel is serious and “will not stop until we get all the hostages back home”. “This is a show,” he said referring to the UN meeting, “what we’re doing on the ground is for real.”
Fox News has the story on the letter, which it says is expected to be delivered to Trump this week.
