UNITED NATIONS: Dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations on Monday to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift nearly two years into the Gaza war that faces fierce resistance from the Zionist entity and its close ally the United States. President Emmanuel Macron announced that France officially recognizes Palestine statehood at a meeting he convened with Saudi Arabia – a milestone that could boost Palestinian morale but appeared unlikely to change much on the ground. Monaco, Belgium, Andorra, Malta and Luxembourg then all recognized from the General Assembly podium, bringing the total number of recognitions to three-quarters of UN membership.
Kuwait welcomes the announcements, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. This step reflects an international determination to push forward efforts towards achieving peace and ending the Palestinian people’s suffering, the ministry added. Kuwait “applauds this recognition and the stances taken by those countries, which help promote chances of peace in the region and support efforts to achieve the two-state solution,” the ministry said, urging other countries that still haven’t recognized Palestine to do so and join efforts to “enable the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
The most far-right government in the Zionist entity’s history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against Hamas in Gaza. The Zionist entity has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities. In recent weeks, Israel has begun a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire.
“We must pave the way for peace,” Macron said at the start of the session at the United Nations in New York. “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 said before announcing the diplomatic move drawing lengthy applause from the audience.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres were among those who also spoke during the event. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose leftist government recognized the state of Palestine in 2024, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the recent recognition moves were very important. “You have two countries from the Security Council, the UK and France, recognizing the state of Palestine, and second, within the Western society... there’s a large majority nowadays of countries that already recognize (the) Palestine state,” he said.
Macron outlined a framework for a renewed Palestinian Authority under which France would open an embassy subject to factors such as reforms, a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages taken from the Zionist entity and held by Hamas in Gaza. Macron’s July pledge on recognition set the latest push in motion, with Britain, Canada and Australia later saying they would follow, and eventually doing so on Sunday.
“We call on those who have not yet done so to follow suit,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said via video link, as he was unable to attend the milestone events after being refused a US visa. “We call for your support so that Palestine becomes a full-fledged member of the United Nations,” he added, promising reforms and elections within a year of a ceasefire.
A delegation representing the State of Palestine has observer status at the United Nations – but no voting rights. No matter how many countries recognize Palestinian independence, full UN membership would require approval by the Security Council, where the US has a veto. The United States and the Zionist entity boycotted Monday’s meeting. Amid the Zionist entity’s intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence by Zionist settlers in the West Bank, there is a growing sense of urgency among some nations to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever.
While the majority of European countries now recognize a Palestinian state, two of the continent’s largest economies, Germany and Italy, have signaled they are unlikely to make such a move soon. – Agencies
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