French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday (July 24, 2025) that France will officially recognise Palestine as a state. This big decision comes at a time when many people across the world are angry and sad about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where people are starving because of the ongoing war.

President Macron made this announcement on social media platform X. He said that he will formalise the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. He wrote, “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.”

Macron earlier supported Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and he often speaks strongly against antisemitism. But in the past few months, he has been more critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. He said, “Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine. Peace is possible.”

Along with his post, Macron also shared a letter that he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas explaining his decision.

France is now the most powerful and biggest European country to recognise Palestine. More than 140 countries around the world already recognise a Palestinian state. Among them are more than a dozen countries in Europe.

France has the largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. So, whenever there is fighting in the Middle East, it often leads to protests and rising tensions in France as well.

The announcement by Macron came just after the United States cut short the Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar. The U.S. said that Hamas was not showing good faith in the talks.

In recent days, many countries have criticised Israel. Earlier this week, France and over 25 mostly European countries strongly condemned Israel for blocking aid to Gaza and for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to get food.

Palestinians want to create an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. These are areas that were taken by Israel during the 1967 Mideast war. But Israel’s government and many of its leaders do not support the idea of a Palestinian state. They believe it would reward Hamas for the 2023 attack.

Israel considers East Jerusalem as part of its capital and has built many settlements in the West Bank. More than 500,000 Jewish settlers live there now, while around 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule. The Palestinian Authority controls some areas but has limited powers.

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