France To Recognize A Palestinian State

France will recognize a Palestinian state in the next United Nations General Assembly in September, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a Thursday X post that he would formalize the decision in the coming assembly, urging action to ensure “the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” according to an AP translation of the post. France is set to be the most powerful European nation to give formal recognition of the de-facto state, with the Palestinian Authority governing pockets of the Israel-occupied West Bank and Hamas running the Gaza Strip.

″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 said, according to the AP. ″Peace is possible.’’

Palestinians have long sought to have their own state since the inception of Israel, which gave birth to numerous terrorist organizations in the region that frequently clashed with the Israeli government.

France will be the one of over 140 nations to formally recognize a Palestinian state. However, many of the most powerful nations in the U.N., namely the U.S., still do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority.

France has long criticized Israel for its approach to the