France among six more countries to formally recognise Palestinian statehood

The leaders of six countries, including France, have moved to recognise Palestinian statehood, at a high-level summit ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York.

Alongside France, which co-convened the meeting with Saudi Arabia on Monday in New York, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco said they were recognising a Palestinian state.

Leaders from Australia, Canada, Portugal and the United Kingdom, which formally made the move to recognise Palestine a day earlier, also spoke at the meeting.

“We have gathered here because the time has come,” President Emmanuel Macron said at the summit convened to revive the long-delayed two-state solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“It falls on us, this responsibility, to do everything in our power to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution,” Macron said.

“Today, I declare that France recognises the state of Palestine,” he said.

The additional countries recognising Palestine now join some 147 of the 193 UN member states, which had already formally recognised Palestinian statehood as of April this year.

With more than 80 percent of the international community now recognising the state of Palestine, diplomatic pressure has ramped up on Israel as it continues its genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 65,300 Palestinians have been killed and the enclave turned into rubble.

Spain, Norway and Ireland recognised Palestinian statehood last year, with Madrid also imposing sanctions on Israel for its war on Gaza.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the summit on Monday that a two-state solution was not possible “when the population of one of those two states is the victim of a genocide”.

“The Palestinian people are being annihilated, [so] in the name of reason, in the name of international law and in the name of human dignity, we have to stop this slaughter,” Sanchez said.

Macron, in his speech to the summit, also outlined a framework for the creation of a “renewed Palestinian Authority”. The post-war framework also envisages an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) that would assist in preparing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take over governance in Gaza.

In a statement delivered by video, because he was denied a US visa by the Trump administration to attend the UNGA this week, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, commended the position of the countries that have recognised the State of Palestine.

“We call on those that have not yet done so to do so, Abbas said, adding “we also demand support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations.”

Israel and the US, which are becoming increasingly isolated internationally on the issue, boycotted the summit, with Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon describing the event as a “circus”.

Although the vast majority of UN member states now recognise Palestinian statehood, new UN member states must have the support of the UN Security Council, where the US has used its veto to block Palestine from becoming a full UN member state.

‘A right, not a reward’

Speaking at the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his support for the two-state solution, framing it as the only viable path towards peace after years of failed negotiations and ongoing violence.

Guterres said that statehood for Palestinians “is a right, not a reward”, rejecting US and Israeli claims that it was a reward for Hamas.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, thanked Macron and the UN chief for their efforts towards a two-state solution, which he said is “the only way to achieve just and lasting peace”.

He said the conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, comes at a time when “the Israeli occupation authorities continue their aggression and their brutal crimes” against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel also continues its “violations in the West Bank, and its repeated attacks on Arab and Muslim countries, with the most recent attack on Qatar”, he said.

“These actions underline Israel’s insistence on continuing aggressive practices that threaten regional and international peace and stability and undermine efforts of peace in the region,” he added.

The US, Israel’s closest ally, has criticised Western governments for their recognition of Palestine, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier saying that the move will “embolden [Hamas]” and make it harder to end the war.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump believes the recent recognition of the state of Palestine by several Western countries “is a reward to Hamas”.

‘A momentum building up’

Sultan Barakat, a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said that Palestinian recognition goes beyond symbolism, and represents “some real, practical support to the cause of Palestine”.

Palestine is expected to top the agenda of the UNGA, to be attended by more than 140 world leaders this week.

Reporting from UN headquarters in New York, media’s Hashem Ahelbarra said that there is a momentum building for UN leaders to discuss a two-state solution, which envisions a sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

“The only problem they face is that establishing a viable Palestinian state is something that requires a nod from the US administration, which does not seem to be willing to go down that path,” he said.

“For many European leaders, this is not a symbolic gesture, but an attempt to try and push for a new political order to prevail in the near future. They say they have leverage that they are ultimately going to use to put an end to the war in Gaza,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. Last September,  the UNGA passed a resolution calling on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territory within a year.