France will not recognize Palestine as state 'out of outrage': President Macron

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France will not recognize Palestinian statehood out of outrage, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

In an interview with broadcasters TF1 and France 2, Macron reiterated his country’s support for a cease-fire in Gaza, the two-state solution, as well as Israel’s right to self-defense.

“We do not recognize a country as a state out of outrage, we do it in (the framework of) a process,” he stressed, reiterating that recognizing Palestine is not a “taboo.”

It is not "reasonable" right now, Macron said, adding, "The moment will come, and France will do it, but it must be done within a process."

In this context, the president explained that Palestine must first implement some reforms and that the act of recognition must be used to exert pressure on Israel, necessitating the mobilization of countries such as the US.

He confirmed that he will continue to work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as long as he is in office, describing him as a "fully legitimate interlocutor."

Civil society organizations and student unions are pressuring European governments to recognize Palestinians as a state and protect their rights in the face of constant Israeli attacks on civilians in UN shelters and displaced persons camps.

Spain, Norway, and Ireland recognized Palestine on May 28, while Slovenia did so on June 4.

Earlier on Thursday, 26 Belgian civil society organizations sent a letter to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo urging him to "recognize the state of Palestine without delay."

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Some 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.