France said on Friday that its plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state runs counter to the stance held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognizing Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organization,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, a day after President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognize Palestinian statehood in September.
Hamas welcomed the president’s announcement, calling it “a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people.”
Israel said that the move “rewards terror”, while the US called it “reckless.”
But Barrot said in his X message that France, with its decision, was “backing the side of peace against the side of war.”
