Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has stated that Italy supports the two-state solution, but emphasized that recognition of a Palestinian state must happen only if Palestine recognizes the State of Israel.
“We are interested in peace, not in one side defeating the other,” said Tajani during the opening of the National Council of Forza Italia, adding that Italy has hosted the highest number of refugees from Gaza globally.
“We can no longer accept massacres and famine,” he stressed. “The time has come for an immediate ceasefire. We are friends of Israel, but we have conveyed this to them as well,” Tajani added.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday evening via social media platform X that France will officially recognize the State of Palestine.
“In line with France’s historical commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” Macron wrote.
He stated that he will formally announce this decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September this year.
“Peace is possible,” he added, calling on the French people to help demonstrate this alongside Israelis, Palestinians, and international partners.
