France, 14 Other Countries Call for Recognition of Palestinian State – SUCH TV

France, along with 14 other Western nations, has called on the international community to recognize a Palestinian state, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced on Wednesday.

The appeal came in a joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of 15 countries following a conference in New York, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“From New York, alongside 14 other nations, France is making a collective call: we affirm our intention to recognize the State of Palestine and urge others to do the same,” Barrot stated on X.

President Emmanuel Macron announced last week he would formally recognise Palestinian statehood in September, provoking strong opposition from Israel and the United States.

France is hoping to build a momentum around the formal recognition of a Palestinian state.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps”, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Starmer’s move, paired with Paris, would make the two European allies the first G7 nations to do so.

In the statement, 15 nations including Spain, Norway, and Finland affirmed their “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution.”

Nine of the signatories which have not yet recognised the Palestinian state expressed “the willingness or the positive consideration of their countries” to do so, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League during the conference joined calls for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.