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‘The time for peace has come’: Macron announces France’s recognition of PalestineEmmanuel Macron announces that France has formally recognized the Palestinian state.“We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” he says.
The time has come.
This is why, true to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
This is why I declare that today, France recognizes the state of Palestine.
ShareUpdated at 20.35 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureRamaphosa condemns the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and says Israel “has unleashed disproportionate punishment against the people of Palestine”.The only solution is a two-state solution, he says.Its viability depends on “full and universal respect for international law”, he says.ShareHe speaks of how only Israel was created in 1947, “casting and ushering the Palestinians into a decades-long wilderness of statelessness, characterised by decades of occupation and now genocide”.ShareUpdated at 21.59 BSTHe congratulates Macron and others for their “bold” and “long overdue” decision to recognise the sovereign state of Palestine.(South Africa recognised Palestine in 1995, after its first post-apartheid democratic elections).ShareUpdated at 21.58 BSTSouth African president Cyril Ramaphosa calls this “crucial” conference one of great significance, “not only for the people of Palestine, not only for the people of Israel, but for all people who cherish the ideals of freedom and self-determination”.ShareAnalysis: Allies’ recognition of Palestine angers Netanyahu but his options for response are limitedEmma Graham-HarrisonBenjamin Netanyahu was quick to denounce the recognition of a Palestinian state by many of Israel’s historic allies, but the prime minister may be struggling to decide how to turn rhetoric into a concrete response.His options are perhaps more constrained than he would have his supporters believe. He has variously threatened annexation of occupied Palestinian land and bilateral action against countries that joined the tide of recognition.But laying formal claim to part or all of the West Bank would jeopardise the Abraham accords, the historic agreement that normalised ties with regional powers including the United Arab Emirates.That deal was perhaps the most high-profile foreign policy achievement of Donald Trump’s first presidency, cited in nominations for the Nobel peace prize he openly covets, and one of Netanyahu’s own landmark achievements.The UAE, one of its most important partners, has already said annexation is a “red line”, and the deal’s collapse would carry a high risk of alienating Netanyahu’s single most important supporter.Israel chose a bilateral response to Ireland, Norway and Spain when they recognised a Palestinian state last year, including withdrawing ambassadors.Doing the same thing now, when so many key allies have followed suit, would be far more complicated – and could harm Israel far more than its targets, former Israeli diplomats said.It would accelerate Israel’s trajectory towards the isolated “super-Sparta” status that Netanyahu celebrated last week and then backed away from after public outrage and economic warnings.Alon Liel, a former diplomat who served as Israel’s consul general to South Africa, said:
I think its such a difficult dilemma that Netanyahu decided to postpone. There is no way Israel will not respond, and there is no way Israel will respond in a clever way. The cabinet is on the point of discussing which mistakes to make.
Read the rest of Emma’s analysis here:ShareAbbas also expresses readiness to work with US president Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, and other partners to implement any peace plan adopted during the UN conference.ShareAbbas also commends the 149 nations which have already recognised a Palestinian state, and calls on those which have not done so to follow suit.
We commend the positions of those countries that recognised the state of Palestine, we call on those who have not yet done so to follow suit. We call for your support so that Palestine becomes a fully-fledged member of the United Nations.
ShareWithin three months of the end of the war, Abbas says, an interim constitution will be drafted to ensure the correct transfer of power from the authority to the state takes place.Elections will then be held under international observance, he adds, describing his aspirations for a state governed by the rule of law.ShareAbbas also called for a permanent ceasefire and ensuring access to humanitarian aid through the UN and Unrwa.He also calls for the start “without delay” of the reconstruction of Gaza and the occupied West Bank.SharePalestinian president calls on Hamas to ‘surrender their weapons’Speaking via video link, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas says Hamas must have “no role” in governing Gaza in the future and calls on Hamas to hand over its weapons.
Hamas and other factions must surrender their weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
What we want is one unified state without weapons, a state with one law and one legitimate security forces.
Share“The horrors of Gaza make equally clear that we cannot allow such devastation to happen again,” Baerbock says.She says she has spoken with both Palestinian people, whose family members are “buried in the ruins of Gaza,” and families of the hostages.“As one Israeli mother told me, it does not bring my child back if a Palestinian mother loses her child in Gaza,” she recalls.ShareUN general assembly president Annalena Baerbock condemns Israeli settlement expansions and demolitions in the occupied West Bank, actions which are “eroding any prospects for a political solution”.Share
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