Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on Thursday welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in September – a move hailed by Palestinians as “historic” and slammed by Israel and the U.S. as dangerous and misguided.
Macron’s declaration, issued in a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and posted publicly, stated that France would “fully recognize Palestine as a state” at the U.N. gathering in New York. He called it a “decisive contribution to peace in the Middle East,” adding that Paris would rally international partners behind the decision.
Hamas praised the move as a “positive step” toward justice and self-determination for Palestinians.
The group said it reflected “growing global support” for the Palestinian cause and called it “a blow to Israel’s efforts to distort the truth.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry echoed the sentiment, calling Macron’s vow a “victory for Palestinian diplomacy” and a product of intense Arab lobbying – particularly from Saudi Arabia. It urged other nations to follow suit and back a two-state solution under international law.
Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh said France’s stance showed its “clear support for Palestinian rights and statehood.”
France will become the first G7 country to officially recognize Palestine. Currently, 149 of 193 U.N. member states have done so.
But the announcement drew sharp criticism from Israel and its staunchest ally, the U.S.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Macron of “rewarding terror,” warning the move could create “another Iranian proxy,” like Hamas-ruled Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the decision as “reckless,” saying it “feeds Hamas propaganda” and “insults the victims of Oct. 7.”
Despite Palestine's physical existence, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee went a step further, attempting to mock Macron on X, using it as an opportunity to display his "sense of humor": “France didn’t say where this ‘Palestinian state’ will be. I can now disclose it’ll be in the French Riviera – called ‘Franc-en-Stine.’”
The move comes amid Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza that began on Oct. 7, 2023. Its war has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – and left Gaza’s health system in ruins, with widespread hunger and displacement.
