French President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognise Palestine as a state, amid growing global anger over starving people in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Macron said in a message on X that he would formalise the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“The most important thing today is to stop the war in Gaza and save the civilian population,” he added.
The French president offered support to Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and often speaks out against anti-Semitism, but his frustration with Israel's war in Gaza has been growing, especially in recent months.
“We strongly condemn President Macron's decision,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Such a move encourages terrorism and threatens to create another Iranian puppet state, similar to what happened in Gaza. A Palestinian state under such conditions will become a springboard for the destruction of Israel, not for peaceful coexistence with it.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the decision. A letter announcing the move was handed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem on Thursday.
“We express our gratitude and appreciation” to Mr Macron, wrote Hussein al-Sheikh, a PLO vice-president under Mr Abbas.
“This position reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”
France is the largest and most influential European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize the Palestinian state, including more than a dozen European ones.
France is home to the largest Jewish diaspora in Europe and the largest Muslim diaspora in Western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.
France's foreign minister will co-host a conference at the United Nations next week on a two-state solution to the conflict.
Last month, Mr Macron expressed his “determination to recognize the state of Palestine” and advocated a broader move towards a two-state solution, along with recognition of Israel and its right to self-defence.
Thursday's announcement came shortly after the United States broke off Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas was not showing good faith.
In recent days, the dynamics of anti-Israel sentiment have been growing.
Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid to the territory and the killing of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food supplies.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Israeli government and much of its political class have long opposed Palestinian statehood and now say they will reward militants after a Hamas attack in 2023.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital.
In the West Bank, he built dozens of settlements, some of which resemble sprawling suburbs, that are now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers who hold Israeli citizenship.
The three million Palestinians in the territory live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in populated areas.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
