World News
NEW YORK: Dozens of world leaders gathered in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday evening to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift nearly two years into the Gaza war that faces fierce resistance from Israel and its close ally the United States.
President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine statehood at a meeting he convened with Saudi Arabia – a milestone that could boost Palestinian morale but appeared unlikely to change much on the ground.
The most far right government in Israel’s history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities. In recent weeks, Israel has begun a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire.
“We must pave the way for peace,” Macron said at the start of the session at the United Nations in New York.
“We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” he said before announcing the diplomatic move drawing lengthy applause from the audience.
Israel has said such moves will undermine the prospects of a peaceful end to the conflict.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres were among those who also spoke during the event.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose leftist government recognized the state of Palestine in 2024, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the recent recognition moves were very important.
“You have two countries from the Security Council, the UK and France, recognizing the state of Palestine, and second, within the Western society… there’s a large majority nowadays of countries that already recognize (the) Palestine state,” he said.
Macron outlined a framework for a renewed Palestinian Authority under which France would open an embassy subject to factors such as reforms, a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel and held by Hamas in Gaza.
Ahead of this week’s UN General Assembly, Luxembourg, Malta, Belgium and Monaco on Monday also joined the more than three-quarters of the 193 UN members who already recognize a Palestinian state.
