Three of Europe’s most powerful countries are holding a phone call to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip after the leader of France declared his nation will recognize a sovereign Palestinian state.
French President Emmanuel Macron is speaking with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, ostensibly to discuss how to address the food shortage in the region.
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All three leaders have expressed support for the idea of an independent Palestinian state, but Macron is the first among them to announce formal recognition.
The French president shocked the international community on Thursday when he broke ranks with his European allies and announced that France will recognize Palestine as a nation-state at the United Nations meeting in September.
“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. “I will make the solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September.”
“The urgency today is to end the war in Gaza and to provide aid to the civilian population,” he continued. “Peace is possible.”
A letter expounding upon his decision was sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
It is unclear whether Macron’s broader ceasefire plan, which includes the demilitarization of Hamas, would be accepted by the terrorist group currently in nominal control of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was outraged by France’s decision, saying 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,” he added. “Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.”
Starmer had issued a similar but less drastic statement not long before, acknowledging that “statehood is the inalienable right of Palestinian people.”
“A ceasefire will put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis,” the prime minister said.
Germany has been even less enthusiastic about Palestinian statehood in the immediate future, acknowledging such an arrangement as one of the “final steps” in a far-off, hypothetical peace plan.
“Israel’s security is of paramount importance to the German government,” a spokesperson for the country said. “The German government therefore has no plans to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term.”
European powers seeking to back Palestinian statehood should not count on support from across the Atlantic.
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President Donald Trump made clear he didn’t take Macron’s decision seriously on Friday while speaking with White House reporters.
“What he says doesn’t matter,” Trump said. “He’s a very good guy. I like him. But that statement doesn’t carry weight.”