About 144 of the 193 member states of the United Nations recognise Palestine as a state, including most of the global south as well as Russia, China and India. But only a handful of the 27 European Union members do so, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.

Starmer says UK will recognise Palestinian state at UNGA unless Israel agrees Gaza ceasefire, Middle East, Times Now

PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron has announced he will recognise Palestinian statehood, drawing angry rebukes from Israel and the United States and opening the door for other major nations to potentially like Britain and Canada to perhaps follow suit.

France has called on the European Union to pressure Israel to agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the latest escalation from France as it seeks an end to the deadly Gaza war days after pledging to recognise Palestine as a state.

Recognising Palestinian statehood is an important step, but without a formal political process, remains largely a symbolic gesture.

France is calling on the European Union to pressure Israel to agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians

Israel and the United States angrily — and wrongly — condemned French president Emmanuel Macron’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

Post-WWII leader Charles de Gaulle famously rallied France to the Palestinian people following the 1967 war, with Paris engaging with the Palestinian Liberation Organization for decades, even as terror attacks were committed in the group’s name on French soil.

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, suggested Tuesday that France’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood would be similar to giving Nazi Germany a victory after World War II. Huckabee criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in the next two months,