French President Emmanuel Macron said the world can "no longer wait" to put an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and releasing the remaining 48 hostages held by Hamas.
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France on Monday joined the UK, Portugal, Canada and Australia in formally recognising a Palestinian state, French President Emmanuel Macron announced whilst addressing the United Nations in New York.
“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 recognises the state of Palestine,” Macron said to loud applause from leaders in attendance.
Before making the announcement, Macron told the UN the world was a few moments away from no longer being able to seize peace.
"We can no longer wait," the French leader said, as he condemned the 7 October attacks and called for a two-state solution.
"Nothing justifies the ongoing war", he said, adding that "everything compels us" to bring it to a definitive end.
France is the latest country to announce its recognition of a Palestinian state after the UK, Portugal, Canada and Australia did so on Sunday.
Around three-fourths of the 193-member United Nations recognise Palestine, but the majority of major Western nations had until recently declined to do so.
The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict, which began more than a century before Hamas' 7 October attack ignited the war in Gaza nearly two years ago.
Palestinians have welcomed the moves toward recognition, hoping they might someday lead to independence.
'Will not happen'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Macron's declaration but said in a video posted before Portugal made the move that a Palestinian state "will not happen.
"A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River," he said adding that Israel has doubled Jewish settlements in the West Bank and "will continue on this path."
Netanyahu said he would respond to the "latest attempt to impose a terrorist state" on Israel following the conclusion of Monday's UN General Assembly meeting.
Israel has opposed Palestinian statehood before the war, and now argued that recognising Palestine would reward Hamas.
The Israeli leader is under pressure from parts of his coalition government to move ahead with annexing parts of the West Bank, which would complicate Palestinian efforts.
Israel says that the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas, is not fully committed to peace. It has accused it of incitement to militancy. Many Palestinians view its leadership as increasingly autocratic.
Hamas, which won the last Palestinian national elections in 2006, has at times hinted it might accept a state on the 1967 lines but remains formally committed to a Palestinian state in all of the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, including Israel.
Netanyahu said he would decide on Israel's response to the Palestinian statehood push after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House next week, their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office.
The Trump administration is also opposed to growing recognition of a Palestinian state and blames it for the derailment of ceasefire talks with Hamas.