Hawzah News Agency- French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognise Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza.
Macron said in a post on social media that he will formalise the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved''.
The French president, who has been supportive of Israel and often speaks out against anti-Semitism, has become increasingly frustrated, especially in recent months, with Israel’s war in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas's deputy Hussein al-Sheikh welcomed France's intent to recognise a State of Palestine.
According to an AFP tally, at least 142 countries out of the 193 UN members have now recognised or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, though Israel and the United States strongly oppose recognition.
They include most Middle Eastern, African, Latin American and Asian countries, but not the United States, Canada, most of western Europe, Australia, Japan or South Korea.
France has Europe's largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Washington rejected Macron's plan calling it a "reckless decision''.
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin on Thursday slammed France's move to recognise a State of Palestine, calling it "a black mark on French history and a direct aid to terrorism".
Levin, who is also justice minister, said France's "shameful decision" meant it was now "time to apply Israeli sovereignty" to the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel's restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food.
Source: FRANCE 24
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