France will recognise an independent state of Palestine in September at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said today.

“The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population,” Macron wrote on X.

He affirmed the decision in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

How has Israel, battling Hamas in Gaza, reacted?

Israeli officials condemned Macron’s decision.

“Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launchpad to annihilate Israel - not to live in peace beside it.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz called the move a “disgrace” and a “surrender to terror”.

How has Hamas responded?

Hamas, which triggered the current war with a deadly raid on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, welcomed Macron’s decision as a “positive step” towards justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

Why announce the move now?

It comes as global anger is rising at Israel’s 21-month military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and people are now starving.

In making the high-profile announcement, Macron took the opportunity to reiterate calls for an immediate ceasefire.

He also called for the release of all Israeli hostages; “massive humanitarian aid” to the people of Gaza; the demilitarisation of Hamas; and the development of the Palestinian state.

“There is no alternative,” he wrote.

What is the significance internationally?

France will become the largest Western power and the first member of the Group of Seven major industrialised nations to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Russia, China, India and more than 140 other countries already do; the United States, Britain, and Japan do not.

What is the significance domestically?

France is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe - globally, it trails only Israel and the United States - and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.

Macron has spoken out against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

What is the situation in Gaza?

Hamas-led fighters killed around 1200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and took 250 more back to the enclave as hostages.

Israel responded with a military campaign against Hamas that has killed more than 59,500 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Now, nearly one in three people in Gaza are going multiple days without eating, the UN says, and 111 people have died of starvation, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hundreds more have been shot dead in recent weeks while trying to reach food aid.

What is Macron’s position on the conflict?

Macron condemned the October 7 attacks and offered France’s support to Israel in the aftermath.

He has also called for an end to the fighting in Gaza, the infusion of more humanitarian aid to the enclave and progress towards a two-state solution.

What did his letter to Abbas say?

In the letter, Macron noted that the Palestinian leader had condemned the attack by Hamas, a rival to his own Fatah Party, and called for the return of the Israeli hostages; supported the disarmament of Hamas and its removal from government; and pledged to reform the Palestinian Authority and organise presidential and legislative elections for next year.

“In this context,” Macron wrote, “I have the honour of confirming that, in light of your commitments, France will fully recognise Palestine as a State when I go to the United Nations General Assembly in September.”