French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France is planning to recognize Palestine as a state in June 2025, according to Rks News.
In an interview on France 5 television on Wednesday, Macron stated that the recognition is expected to be finalized at a United Nations conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict, which France will co-host with Saudi Arabia in June.
“We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months. I’m not doing it to please anyone — I will do it because at some point, it will be the right thing to do,” Macron said, as reported by A2 CNN.
This move, according to Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, would be “a step in the right direction, in line with the protection of the Palestinian people’s rights and the two-state solution.”
However, critics argue that such a move could be counterproductive. Some suggest that any “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state would amount to incentivizing Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the EU, U.S., and several other countries.
“A unilateral recognition of an imaginary Palestinian state — by any country — under the current reality we all know, would reward terrorism and encourage Hamas. Such actions won’t bring peace, security, or stability to our region — quite the opposite,” was posted on social media platform X.
So far, 146 out of 193 UN member states officially recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. In the past year, countries including Armenia, Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, Spain, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados have joined those ranks.
Despite growing international support, some major Western powers — such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia — have not recognized Palestinian statehood.
Conversely, several countries that do not recognize Israel include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
President Macron added that recognizing Palestine would allow France to be clear in its opposition to groups or regimes that deny Israel’s right to exist, such as Iran, while also strengthening its role in ensuring collective security in the region.
France has long supported a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and its position has remained unchanged following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the armed group Hamas.
However, formal recognition of a Palestinian state by Paris would mark a significant political shift and may strain relations with Israel, which insists that such moves by foreign states are premature.
