France will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding that he hoped it would help bring peace to the region — though Israel denounced the decision.

Macron, who announced the decision on X, published a letter sent to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirming France’s intention to become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state.

“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” Macron said.

“I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September.”

Fidèle à son engagement historique pour une paix juste et durable au Proche-Orient, j’ai décidé que la France reconnaîtra l’État de Palestine.

J’en ferai l’annonce solennelle à l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies, au mois de septembre prochain.… pic.twitter.com/7yQLkqoFWC —@EmmanuelMacron

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement posted on X that “we strongly condemn President Macron’s decision,” further stating that “such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it.”

The Palestinian Authority welcomed Macron’s decision.

”We express our thanks and appreciation” to Macron, said Hussein Al Sheikh, the vice-president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Abbas, in a post on X. ”This position reflects France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination.”

There was no immediate reaction from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, though in a diplomatic cable in June, the U.S. said it opposed any steps that would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, will become the first major Western country to recognize a Palestinian state, potentially giving greater momentum to a movement so far dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel.

France’s foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the UN 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 of Israel and its right to defend itself.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza.

Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he posted.

The French president offered support for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel’s war in Gaza, especially in recent months.

“Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the state of Palestine,” Macron posted. “Peace is possible.”

He also posted a letter he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the decision.

In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “strongly” condemned the move and that it “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” he said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, however, the U.S. is not among them.

France has Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.

France’s foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the U.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 of Israel and its right to defend itself.

Thursday’s announcement came soon after the U.S. cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas wasn’t showing good faith.

Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food.

The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied 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 terrorists after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In the West Bank, it has built scores of settlements that are now home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers.

France will recognize an independent state of Palestine in September at the U.N. General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday. “The urgent need today is to end the war in Gaza and to rescue the civilian population,” Macron wrote on X. He affirmed the decision in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli officials condemned Macron’s decision.

“Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launchpad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it.”

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Defense Minister Israel Katz called the move a “disgrace” and a “surrender to terror.”

Hamas, which triggered the current war with a deadly raid on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, welcomed Macron’s decision as a “positive step” toward justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people.”

Global anger is rising at Israel’s 21-month military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and people are now starving.

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Macron reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all Israeli hostages and “massive humanitarian aid” to the people of Gaza; the demilitarization of Hamas; and the development of the Palestinian state.

“There is no alternative,” he wrote.

France will become the largest Western power and the first member of the G-7 to recognize Palestinian statehood. Russia, China, India and more than 140 other countries already do; the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan do not.

France will recognize Palestine as a state, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday.

“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” Macron wrote on social media.

“The urgency today is to end the war in Gaza and to provide aid to the civilian population,” the French president said, before calling for “an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”

The “demilitarization of Hamas” is necessary, according to Macron.

“Finally, it is essential to build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and enable it, by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, to contribute to the security of all in the Middle East,” he said.

Macron says he will formally make the announcement recognizing the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Fidèle à son engagement historique pour une paix juste et durable au Proche-Orient, j’ai décidé que la France reconnaîtra l’État de Palestine.

J’en ferai l’annonce solennelle à l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies, au mois de septembre prochain.… pic.twitter.com/7yQLkqoFWC — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 24, 2025

“France has a long and well-earned reputation for surrendering,” Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal, adding, “85 years ago they surrendered to [Adolf] Hitler. Today, France proposes to do the same to his spiritual successor, Hamas. Their cowardice was wrong then, and it is wrong now.”

“But just as America chose a different path and saved the world from that unspeakable evil, we will continue to do so again now,” Fine, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “America will never recognize a Muslim Terror state in Israel.”

News of Macron’s decision to recognize Palestine as a state came shortly after it was confirmed that peace talks between Israel and Hamas had once again broken down.

The U.S. team working to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas is now coming home.

“We have decided to bring our team home from [Doha, Qatar] for consultations after the latest response from Hamas, which clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, announced Thursday in a post on the social media platform X.

The U.S., along with mediators from Qatar and Egypt, have been working to broker a deal between Hamas and Israel, who have been at war since the militant Islamist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on the Jewish state.

Israeli negotiators are also returning home in “light of the response conveyed by Hamas this morning,” the Israeli prime minister’s office announced Thursday.

The deal, which is now further in question, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 living U.S. hostages, and the remains of 18 deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Hamas is reported to have responded to the proposal with conditions Israel was not willing to accept, including the release of terrorists involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, according to Aviva Klompas, the CEO of Boundless, a pro-Israel education group.

Witkoff said mediators “made a great effort,” but added that “Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”

“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said. “It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way. We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza.”

There are 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, 20 of whom are thought to still be alive.

This story was updated after publication to include comments from Rep. Randy Fine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will recognize Palestinian statehood, a largely symbolic move but one that puts a leading, global nation at odds with Israel’s push for countries to hold off on recognizing Palestinian statehood until a resolution of the decades-old conflict.

Macron, in a statement on the social platform X, said the move is part of a commitment to “a just and lasting peace in the Middle East” and that he will make the “solemn announcement” ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

A reported 146 countries have recognized the state of Palestine, but France’s announcement makes it the first of the world’s leading economies, as a member of the Group of Seven (G7) nations and a member of the United Nations Security Council.

The announcement comes amid a breakdown in talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, the U.S.-designated terror group controlling the Gaza Strip. President Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, put the blame on Hamas as failing to show good faith.

Macron urged an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the return of all the hostages held by Hamas and massive humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people there, where death from starvation appears to be increasing.

Macron said he received unnamed commitments from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that made it possible to move forward with his announcement on Thursday. France is expected to host, alongside Saudi Arabia, a conference on achieving a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in September.

“The French people want peace in the Middle East. It is up to us, the French, together with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and our European and international partners, to demonstrate that it is possible,” Macron said.

Israel has lobbied against international recognition of a Palestinian state, in particular at the U.N., where recognition and admission would bestow legitimacy and voting power in the General Assembly. Formal inclusion can only be granted by the U.N. Security Council, and the U.S. used its veto power in April 2024 to block Palestine’s bid to become a full member.

In May that year, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine status as an observer state and recommended the Security Council vote for its inclusion as a full, voting state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Macron’s announcement in light of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel.

“Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became,” he wrote on X.

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.”