InternationalDesk

President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that France may recognise a Palestinian state "in the coming months." Speaking to France 5 television on Wednesday, Macron said he hoped to formalise the recognition at a United Nations conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict, which France will co-chair with Saudi Arabia in June.“We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron stated. “I’m not doing it to please anyone. I’ll do it because at some point it will be right,” he added.Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, welcomed the news, calling it “a step in the right direction in line with safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the two-state solution.”However, Israel has opposed any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned that such a move would only strengthen Hamas.“A ‘unilateral recognition’ of a fictional Palestinian state, by any country, in the reality that we all know, will be a prize for terror and a boost for Hamas,” Saar wrote on X. “These kind of actions will not bring peace, security and stability in our region closer – but the opposite: they only push them further away,” he added.So far, Palestine has been recognised as a sovereign state by 146 out of 193 UN members, including Armenia, Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, Spain, and several Caribbean nations. Despite this, key Western countries like the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany have yet to grant recognition.Macron believes that recognition of Palestine could lead to a “collective dynamic” in which some Middle Eastern countries might recognise Israel. At present, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen do not recognise Israel.

By recognising Palestine, Macron explained, France could take a clearer stance against countries like Iran, which deny Israel’s right to exist, and strengthen its commitment to regional security.On a recent trip to Egypt, Macron held talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, making it clear he was strongly opposed to any displacement or annexation in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Source,Al Jajeera