French President Emanuel Macron on Monday formally announced Paris’s recognition of a Palestinian state during a UN conference his country co-hosted with Saudi Arabia, which also saw Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas make the case that his government is prepared to lead that future state in both the West Bank and Gaza.

Macron was joined by the leaders of Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino and Andorra who issued similar announcements at the conference aimed at promoting a two-state solution. The UK, Australia, Canada and Portugal made their own announcements recognizing Palestine a day earlier.

The gathering demonstrated overwhelming international support for the Palestinian cause and the unprecedented state of isolation that Israel finds itself in less than two years after Hamas’s October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages abducted.

The United States joined Jerusalem in boycotting the conference, the only major world power still in Israel’s corner as the Gaza war drags on and as the death toll crosses 65,000, according to unverified figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Both the US and Israel have argued that recognition of a Palestinian state at this time amounts to a reward for Hamas that won’t advance efforts to release the 48 remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza, but could well harm those goals.

But Macron insisted in the opening speech of the Monday conference that recognition advances the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

He began his speech by first calling for the immediate release of the hostages followed by an immediate ceasefire.

Macron argued that “breaking the cycle [of violence] lies in the recognition of the other,” insisting that the time had come for the move.

He acknowledged that Hamas’s October 7 attack is an “open wound for Israelis” and “our universal conscience,” reiterating Paris’s unequivocal condemnation of the onslaught.

Macron said France will never forget the victims and never stop fighting against antisemitism.

But while Israel has made important military gains against Hamas in the war that ensued, he asserted Jerusalem’s response has gone too far.

“Nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza. Nothing,” he said. “On the contrary, everything compels us to end it immediately.”

He highlighted the “atrocious conditions of the hostages,” saying that he held the families of captives Evyatar David and Nimrod Cohen in his arms.

But “a life is a life,” he stated, citing his meetings earlier this year on the Egyptian-Gaza border with Palestinian civilians wounded by Israeli strikes.

Macron argued that the international community bears “collective responsibility” for the lack of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Worst could still come to pass,” he said, warning of potential Israeli expulsion of Palestinians to Egypt, the death of hostages and Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

“We have reason to believe” that the Abraham Accords and the Camp David Accords could be at risk of collapse due to Israeli actions, Macron added, referring respectively to a series of 2020 normalization agreements between Israel and Gulf states and the 1970s peace treaty that Israel and Cairo signed.

Several weeks ago, a top Emirati official told The Times of Israel that Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a red line for Abu Dhabi that would “end” regional integration. Saudi officials have also reportedly warned of significant consequences from annexation.

“We must do everything possible to preserve a two-state solution,” Macron said.

“This is why I declare today that France recognizes the state of Palestine,” he  added to thunderous applause in the UN General Assembly hall.

“Recognition takes nothing away from the rights of Israel,” he asserted, claiming the move marked a “defeat of Hamas” and those who harbor “anti-Zionist obsessions.”

Macron laid out some details of the peace plan France is advancing in parallel to its recognition of a Palestinian state.

He urged Israel not to take further actions that thwart the effort and stressed that it will include the dismantlement of Hamas.

He said an International Stabilization Force (ISF) will assist in that effort and in preparing the Palestinian Authority to take over governance in the Gaza Strip. The Times of Israel revealed the proposal earlier Monday.

France stands ready to contribute to the ISF and to support allies in training PA forces, Macron said, adding that the international mission could be deployed immediately through a UN Security Council resolution and with the consent of Israel.

Turning to his expectations of the PA, Macron said, “It’ll be up to the State of Palestine to give hope to its people,” recalling Abbas’s June letter to France and Saudi Arabia in which the PA leader committed to implementing far-reaching reforms aimed — among other things — at promoting democratic expression.

He recalled that Abbas condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack in the June letter, which paved the way to Paris’s recognition of Palestine.

Those commitments included the disarmament of Hamas, excluding the terror group from future governance, combating hate speech and implementing an in-depth overhaul of Palestinian governance.

France will pay close attention to the full implementation of these commitments, Macron said.

Critically, Macron revealed that he will hold off on opening a French embassy until after the hostages are released and a ceasefire in Gaza has been reached.

Western countries faced pressure in recent weeks from some opponents of the recognition move to at least condition the step on the release of the hostages. While Macron sufficed with conditioning the opening of an embassy to a hostage deal, Belgium went further, saying it wouldn’t take any formal steps on recognition until the captives are released and Hamas is removed from power.

As for Israel, Macron said that France will condition its cooperation with Jerusalem to the steps the latter takes to end the war and advance peace.

“We expect our Arab partners to engage with Israel and normalize with Israel as soon as the State of Palestine has been established,” he added.

“The time has come to no longer talk about the existence of Israel. It is self-evident. The time has come to do justice for the Palestinian people and thus to recognize the State of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Macron declared.

Speaking shortly after Macron, Abbas reiterated his condemnation of Hamas’s October 7 attack along with his calls for the terror group to release all remaining hostages, disarm and step down from power in Gaza.

Abbas addressed the session virtually after the US issued widespread visa bans against the PA’s leadership in retaliation for the Western plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the conference.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hit out at the “disappointing” US decision during his speech at the conference.

Expressing his support for the conference’s goal, Guterres asserted, “Statehood for Palestinians is a right, not a reward.”

Abbas proceeded to lay out the steps the PA is taking to reform so that it is better prepared to govern Gaza after the war is over.

The “comprehensive reform agenda” will promote good governance, transparency, the rule of law and see reforms of the PA’s financial system and education systems. The latter reform will be in line with UNESCO standards and be achieved within two years, Abbas stated.

He went on to confirm The Times of Israel’s reporting on the PA’s reform of its controversial welfare system, which critics dubbed “pay-to-slay” as it rewarded prisoners based on the length of their sentence.

“We’re establishing a unified social welfare system after the abolition of all previous payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs. This system is currently undergoing international audit by a specialized international firm,” Abbas said.

The PA president committed to holding elections under international observation within one year of the war’s end.

In his June letter to Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, though, he committed to holding elections within a year, without conditioning the vote on an end to the Gaza war.

Abbas also pledged Monday to draft an “interim constitution” within three months to ensure that all parties participating in elections adhere to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s charter, which includes recognition of Israel.

He said Ramallah’s goal is to establish a democratic state based on the rule of law, pluralism, power-sharing, equality, justice and empowerment of women and youth.

Abbas made an effort to appeal directly to Israelis and Jews around the world, noting that the PA already recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988 and 1993 and continues to do so today.

“We reject any confusion — I repeat, any confusion — between solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism. We reject the latter proceeding from our values and principles,” Abbas said.

“I address the Israeli people saying, our future and yours banks on peace. Enough violence and war. Our generations deserve to enjoy freedom and security. Let the people of our region live in durable peace and good neighborliness,” he continued, calling on Israel’s leaders to join him at the negotiating table to “put an end to this bloodshed and bring about just and comprehensive peace.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to address all Jews around the world, wishing them a shana tovah,” Abbas said, offering Rosh Hashanah greetings in Hebrew.

“And to our patient Palestinian people,” he concluded. “The dawn of freedom and liberty is undoubtedly coming.

While Saudi Arabia co-hosted the conference, its de facto ruler didn’t end up sending a video statement as was initially anticipated.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan gave a brief speech that largely regurgitated Riyadh’s talking points calling for a two-state solution and criticizing Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

Farhan went on to urge all countries to join the Western states recognizing Palestine, as the possibility of Riyadh normalizing ties with Israel appeared particularly distant.

More notable speeches came from the leaders of Belgium, Indonesia and Egypt.

Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever followed through on his country’s earlier pledge only to recognize a Palestinian state once the hostages have been released and Hamas is removed from power in Gaza.

“The recent declarations of a number of Israeli ministers, including the prime minister himself, that no state of Palestine will ever exist, is an additional reason for reaffirming the right and the need of the Palestinians having their own state,” De Wever said in his address to the confab.

“Therefore, Belgium is giving out a strong political and diplomatic signal to the world today by joining the group of countries that announces the recognition of the State of Palestine in the margin of this high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly,” he continued.

“However, this step cannot be a reward for Hamas,” he clarified. “Conscious of the trauma suffered after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, Belgium will proceed to the legal recognition of the State of Palestine once all hostages have been released and all terrorist organizations such as Hamas have been removed from the governance of Palestine.”

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his country’s offer to provide peacekeeping forces to help stabilize Gaza after the war during his remarks at the UN General Assembly’s two-state solution conference.

Subianto first made the offer last year, with Indonesia remaining the only country to publicly do so.

Arab countries are also said to be willing to contribute troops to a post-war international force in Gaza, but they have yet to go public with that stance and have conditioned their participation on a role for the Palestinian Authority, which Israel rejects.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that his country will host a Gaza reconstruction conference as soon as a ceasefire has been reached in the devastated territory.

“Egypt will, as soon as we reach a ceasefire, host an international reconstruction conference on the Gaza Strip to mobilize the necessary funding for the Arab-Islamic reconstruction plan,” he said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, called for a state of Palestine to be admitted to the United Nations after a French-led summit on recognition.

“This conference marks a milestone, but it’s not the end of the road. It’s only the beginning,” Sanchez said. “The state of Palestine must be a member.”

Absent from the conference, which was held on the eve of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, were Israeli and US delegations.

Speaking to reporters outside the UN General Assembly shortly before the start of event, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Jerusalem opposes the two-state solution framework that the conference was seeking to salvage.

“Before October 7, there was a debate about that in Israel. After October 7, it’s off the table,” Danon said. “Now we are focused on bringing [back] the hostages, on defeating Hamas.”

“When the day will come that there will be a general Palestinian leadership that will condemn terrorism… we will speak with the Palestinians,” he added.

“We have to be honest that there is no partner on the other side.”

“We are a peaceful nation. We signed multiple peace accords and hopefully, we will sign more accords in the near future,” Danon said.

“This [conference] is a show, but what we are doing on the ground — that’s for real,” the Israeli envoy continued, referencing Israel’s escalating offensive to conquer Gaza City where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are still sheltering.

Danon called the Western recognition of a Palestinian state a “unilateral action” that will provoke an Israeli response, which Netanyahu will announce in the coming days.

For its part, the White House reiterated its opposition to the decisions by Western nations to recognize a Palestinian state on Monday.

“The president has been very clear. He disagrees with this decision. He spoke about that in the UK, standing right next to his friend, Prime Minister Starmer,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing in Washington.

“He feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza; does nothing to end this war to a close,” Leavitt added.

“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. He believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies,” she continued. “You’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow at the UN.”