French President Macron says France will recognise Palestine as state
Paris (AP/PTI): French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognise Palestine as a state, in a bold diplomatic move amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision.
Macron said in a post on X that he will formalise the decision at the UN General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved," he wrote.
The mostly symbolic move puts added diplomatic pressure on Israel as the war and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip rage. France is now the biggest Western power to recognise Palestine, and the move could pave the way for other countries to do the same. More than 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.
The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.
"We strongly condemn President Macron's decision," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it."
The Palestinian Authority welcomed it. A letter announcing the move was presented Thursday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem.
"We express our thanks and appreciation" to Macron, Hussein Al Sheikh, the PLO's vice president under Abbas, posted. "This position reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination."
The United States “strongly rejects" Macron's plan to recognise a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a post on the social platform X.
"This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th," Rubio said.
"Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine," Macron posted. "Peace is possible."
Thursday's announcement came soon after the US cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas wasn't showing good faith.
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Congress misleading public on National Herald case, matter still in court: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of running misleading propaganda over the trial court's decision in the National Herald case and said the court refused to take cognisance of the complaint but did not set aside the case.
The case is still pending trial in the Delhi High Court, and the trial court in its order on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can continue its investigation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asserted.
"The court yesterday (Tuesday) said that since it is a private complaint and no FIR has been lodged, it will not take cognizance of it. It's a technical matter. The court also said that ED can continue its investigation further. The court did not set it aside," Bhatia told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here
"Its trial is still going on. Sonia Gandhi is still Accused Number-1 and Rahul Gandhi Accused Number-2," the BJP spokesperson said, alleging, "The Gandhi family thrives on deceit, deception, and propaganda."
