Scores of international leaders met at the United Nations on Monday to express backing for Palestinian statehood, a major diplomatic shift almost two years into the Gaza war. The attempt, however, is met with firm opposition from Israel and its close ally, the United States.
French President Emmanuel Macron, hosting a gathering with Saudi Arabia, declared that France would recognize Palestine as a state officially. Although the announcement might give symbolic momentum and raise Palestinian morale, analysts said it is hard to expect that it would change things on the ground.
Israel's most conservative government to date has unequivocally dismissed the notion of Palestinian statehood, continuing with military assaults against Hamas in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Israeli attack that killed an estimated 1,200 individuals.
Israel's actions in Gaza have been widely condemned from around the world. Local health officials say that over 65,000 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed. Israel has recently launched a highly anticipated ground attack into Gaza City, with no sign of a ceasefire.
"We need to create the path towards peace," Macron declared when he began the UN session 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.
Israel maintains that unilateral recognition erodes chances for a negotiated peace.
One of the other speakers during the event were Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Macron provided conditions for creating a Palestinian Authority with restored legitimacy, under which France would establish an embassy once requirements like governance reforms, a truce, and the release of Hamas hostages are achieved.
A few more European microstates, such as Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, and San Marino, were also supposed to join in recognizing Palestinian statehood prior to this week's UN General Assembly. Malta and Monaco did so on Monday.
The recognition campaign started after Macron made the commitment in July. Britain, Canada, and Australia subsequently pledged recognition and made the declaration on Sunday.
""We call for your support so that Palestine becomes a full-fledged member of the United Nations," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a video address. Denied a U.S. visa, Abbas could not attend in person. "We call for your support so that Palestine becomes a full-fledged member of the United Nations," he continued, vowing reforms and elections once a ceasefire is reached.
Today, Palestine is an observer at the UN, with no voting rights. To become a full member is to seek approval from the Security Council—a step that can be vetoed by the United States.
The two-state solution, which was the mainstay of the U.S.-brokered Oslo Accords of 1993, has effectively broken down following decades of fruitless negotiations. There has been no serious peace negotiation since 2014.
None of Israel or the United States attended Monday's meeting. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon stated that negotiations on how to act would be conducted upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's return from Washington, where he was to meet President Donald Trump.
"Those issues were supposed to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians in the future,"" Danon had said ahead of the session. Netanyahu has insisted time and again that military cooperation against Hamas will not stop until the organisation is dismantled and dismissed recognising a Palestinian state.
The U.S., on its part, has indicated it could make the conflict worse by unilateral recognition. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned other governments against such actions earlier this month.
Nevertheless, with Israel's deepening war in Gaza and bloodshed on the rise in the West Bank, numerous states claim that decisive action must be taken in order to save even the chance for a two-state solution.
France has played a leadership role, with Macron's July statement providing a spur to momentum beyond smaller states conventionally more hawkish towards Israel.
European Divisions and Israeli Reactions
While the majority of European countries now accept Palestine, two of the EU's biggest economies, Germany and Italy, hold back.
Germany, which has close historical ties to Israel due to its guilt over the Holocaust, has grown increasingly critical of Israeli actions. But Berlin maintains that recognition must wait a full political settlement. A German government spokesman repeated on Monday that "there must be no further annexations" in occupied territories.
Italy countered, however, that granting recognition to Palestine at this point could be "counterproductive."
Israeli authorities, in turn, are considering possible reactions, including the annexation of sections of the West Bank and reciprocal steps against France. These steps, however, may risk isolating allies such as the United Arab Emirates, whose normalization of ties with Israel through the 2020 Abraham Accords was regarded as a diplomatic coup.
The UAE warned that annexation would violate the spirit of the accords.
The United States also warned nations of the consequences of taking punitive action against Israel, with France being singled out as a target even though it hosted the summit.
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