French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France is considering formally recognising a Palestinian state in the coming months, with a possible declaration during a United Nations conference in New York scheduled for June.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on France 5 television on Wednesday, Macron said, “We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months.” He added that France aims to co-host the conference alongside Saudi Arabia, where mutual recognition from multiple parties could be finalised.
“I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do,” he added.
Macron stressed that such a move would bolster France’s stance against those who deny Israel’s right to exist—naming Iran in particular—and strengthen France’s commitment to regional security.
France has traditionally supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, formal recognition of Palestinian statehood by Paris would mark a major shift in policy and could strain relations with Israel, which argues that such unilateral recognition is premature.
Responding to Macron’s statement, Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said France’s recognition would be a “step in the right direction” and consistent with international efforts to safeguard Palestinian rights and the two-state framework.
To date, nearly 150 countries have recognised a Palestinian state. In 2024 alone, several European nations—namely Ireland, Norway, and Spain in May, followed by Slovenia in June—made the move, driven in part by their strong criticism of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023.
Recognition by France, one of Europe’s most influential powers, would carry significant diplomatic weight. The United States, however, has so far refrained from taking a similar step.
During a recent visit to Egypt, Macron held summit discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. He made clear his opposition to any plans for forced displacement or territorial annexation in Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Commenting on former US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” while relocating Palestinians elsewhere, Macron responded bluntly: “The Gaza Strip is not a real estate project.”
“Simplistic thinking sometimes doesn’t help,” he added, and, in a message to Trump said: “Perhaps it would be wonderful if one day it developed in an extraordinary way, but our responsibility is to save lives, restore peace, and negotiate a political framework.”
He added that without a comprehensive political resolution, economic development would remain impossible. “No one will invest a cent in Gaza under the current circumstances,” Macron concluded.
