President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will formally recognise the State of Palestine, with the official declaration set to take place at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

In a post on X on Thursday, Macron stated, “In line with France’s longstanding commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine.”

“I will solemnly announce this at the United Nations General Assembly in September this year,” he added.

The move makes France the largest and arguably most influential country in Europe to move to recognise a Palestinian state, after European Union members Norway, Ireland and Spain indicated they would also begin the same process.

At least 142 countries out of the 193 members of the UN currently recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, but several powerful Western countries have refused to do so.

They include the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The announcement comes as European anger over Israel’s war on Gaza, in which Israel has killed 59,587 Palestinians and imposed severe restrictions on aid deliveries that have led to a hunger crisis, has grown.

CREATING MOMENTUM

The decision to make the announcement ahead of next week’s conference aimed to give the French team at the United Nations a framework to work with other countries that are also considering recognising a Palestinian state or have misgivings in doing so.

Diplomats say Macron has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

About 40 foreign ministers will be in New York next week.

Israeli officials have spent months lobbying to prevent what some have called “a nuclear bomb” for bilateral ties.

Sources familiar with the matter say Israel’s warnings to France have ranged from scaling back intelligence sharing to complicating Paris’ regional initiatives – even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Israel has been waging a devastating war in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and says recognising a Palestinian state now would be equivalent to rewarding Hamas.

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.”