French President Macron says France will recognize Palestine as a state

French PresidentEmmanuel Macronannounced Thursday thatFrancewillrecognize Palestineas a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving inGaza.

Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at theUnited Nations General Assemblyin September. “The urgent thing today is that the war inGazastops and the civilian population is saved.″

The French president offered support forIsraelafter theOct. 7, 2023Hamasattacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated aboutIsrael’swar inGaza, especially in recent months.

″Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in theMiddle East, I have decided thatFrancewill recognize the state of Palestine,” Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.”

He also posted a letter he sent to Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbasabout the decision.

Franceis the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen inEurope.

Francehas Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in westernEurope, and fighting in theMiddle Eastoften spills over into protests or other tensions inFrance.

The Israeli Foreign Ministryhad no immediate comment.

France’s foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at theU.N. next week about a two-state solution. Last month, Macron expressed his “determination to recognize the state of Palestine,” and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition ofIsraeland its right to defend itself.

Thursday’s announcement came soon after theU.S.cut shortGazaceasefire talks inQatar, sayingHamaswasn’t showing good faith.

Momentum has been building againstIsraelin recent days. Earlier this week,Franceand more than two dozen mostly European countriescondemnedIsrael’s restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food.

The Palestinians seek an independent statein the occupiedWest Bank, annexed eastJerusalemandGaza, territoriesIsraeloccupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward militants after Hamas’Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israelannexed eastJerusalemshortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In theWest Bank, it has built scores of settlements, some resembling sprawling suburbs, that are now home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with thePalestinian Authorityexercising limited autonomy in population centers.