France will recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN general assembly, Emmanuel Macron has said.
The French president announced the decision on X on Thursday evening, saying he hoped it would bring peace to the region.
Macron published a letter sent to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, confirming France’s intention to become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state.
“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” Macron said.
“I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations general assembly next September.”
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said France’s decision “rewards terror” and “risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became”, which would be “a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it”.
“Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” he added.
The decision is also likely to spark anger in Washington. In a diplomatic cable in June, the US said it opposed any steps that would unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state.
Macron had been leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state for months as part of an attempt to keep the idea of a two-state solution alive, despite the pressure not to do so.
French officials initially weighed up the move in advance of a UN conference, which France and Saudi Arabia had planned to co-host in June, to lay out the parameters for a route to a Palestinian state while ensuring Israel’s security.
The conference was postponed under US pressure and after the 12-day Israel-Iran air war began, during which regional airspace was closed, making it hard for representatives of some Arab states to attend.
It was rescheduled and downgraded to a ministerial event on 28 and 29 July, with a second event due to take place with heads of state and government on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in September.
The decision to make the announcement before next week’s conference aimed to give the French team at the UN a framework to work with other countries who are also considering recognising a Palestinian state or still have misgivings over doing so.
Diplomats say Macron has faced resistance from allies such as the UK and Canada over his push for the recognition of a Palestinian state. About 40 foreign ministers will be in New York next week.
Thanking France, the Palestinian Authority’s vice-president, Hussein al-Sheikh, said on X that Macron’s decision reflected “France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state”.
