France will push forward with recognising Palestine later this month despite Israeli “annexation” plans, French President Emmanuel Macron said after speaking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“No offensive, annexation attempt or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum we have created with the Crown Prince – momentum that many partners have already joined,” Mr Macron wrote on X.
Earlier this week, Belgium became the latest country to announce it would join France in recognising Palestinian statehood on September 22 at a high-level conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Malta had already said they would do so, though some countries have tied recognition to conditions. The UK will move forward unless Israel agrees to a set a demands, including a ceasefire in Gaza. Belgium will formalise recognition only once Hamas is demilitarised.
Israel has attempted to torpedo France's diplomatic push by rendering conditions on the ground incompatible with the establishment of a Palestinian state. This week, the Israeli army began calling up army reservists before an offensive to capture Gaza city.
In July, the Israeli cabinet approved a symbolic motion to annex the occupied West Bank. Last month, a defence ministry committee greenlighted a planned settlement near East Jerusalem known as E1 that would damage plans for a contiguous Palestinian state.
These preparations comes as reports show that the US administration has floated a plan to relocate Gaza's population of two million to neighbouring countries in order to build a “riviera of the Middle East” backed by President Donald Trump. It is a vision that aligns with Israel's hard-right but is rejected by Israel's European allies and Arab states.
Despite these setbacks, Mr Macron said France and Saudi Arabia would continue to “rally the broadest possible international support for the two-state solution – the only way to meet the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians”. Mr Macron has framed recognition as a necessary step towards peace in the region.
“This will require the implementation of a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and the deployment of a stabilisation mission in Gaza,” Mr Macron added.
With the Saudi Crown Prince, the French President is also working on the disarmament of Hamas and the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority, in order to organise a new round of Palestinian elections.
The US decision to deny visas to Palestinian diplomats scheduled to attend the September 22 conference is “unacceptable”, Mr Macron said. The US, like Israel, opposes the French President's initiative to recognise a Palestinian state. “We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured,” Mr Macron said.
In a symbolic step, several European states recognised Palestine last year, including Spain. Speaking to The Guardian during a trip to the UK, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was pleased other western states were following his country's lead, but that Europe's response to the Gaza conflict had been inadequate.
“It is a failure,” Mr Sanchez said. “Absolutely. It is also the reality that, within the European Union, there are countries that are divided when it comes to how to influence Israel. But in my opinion, it’s not acceptable and we can’t last longer if we want to increase our credibility when it comes to other crises, such as the one we face in Ukraine."
“What we’re now witnessing in Gaza is perhaps one of the darkest episodes of international relations in the 21st century,” Mr Sanchez said.
