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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Ready to face no-confidence motion, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Congress government led by him was ready to face the no-confidence motion if moved by the opposition during the legislature session from December 8.
With Deputy CM D K Shivakumar by his side, he reiterated that they would both abide by the high command's decision on the leadership issue.
"Let them (opposition) bring in a no-confidence motion or adjournment motion or any other motion. We are ready to face it. Ours is an open book, transparent government. We are ready to face anything," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
However, BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, clarified that the party, along with the JD(S) has not discussed or decided anything so far regarding moving a no-confidence motion against the government.
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The winter session of the Karnataka legislature will begin in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, on December 8 and will go on till 19th of this month.
Not wanting to react to a question on the leadership issue, the CM said the Congress high command is very strong.
"D K Shivakumar and I will be committed to whatever the high command decides," he said.
Earlier in the day in Bengaluru, Shivakumar accompanied AICC Mallikarjun Kharge till airport from Vidhana Soudha, after paying tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 69th death anniversary, which had led to some speculation about possible discussion between the two on the leadership issue.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both the CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
