France set to recognize Palestinian state after Portugal, UK, Australia and Canada

Agencies

September 22, 2025

A growing number of countries are officially recognizing Palestine as an independent state, amid mounting international outrage over Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

France and other countries prepared to recognize a Palestinian state as the UN's centerpiece diplomatic week gets underway Monday, following a rash of Western governments in symbolicly endorsing statehood and sparking Israel's wrath.

President Emmanuel Macron has indicated France will follow suit Monday as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution -- Palestinian and Israeli coexistence.

"They want a nation, they want a state, and we should not push them towards Hamas," Macron told CBS News's "Face the Nation" Sunday, adding that the move would help isolate the armed group.

He also said that he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, a precondition of opening an embassy to the Palestinian state.

Israel's foreign ministry said the recognition moves do not "promote peace, but on the contrary further destabilizes the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future."

On Sunday, Portugal officially recognized the State of Palestine, joining the UK, Canada, and Australia in this landmark decision made ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week.

The announcement was made by Portugal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, in New York, reaffirming support for a two-state solution as the only viable path to lasting peace.

"The recognition of the state of Palestine is the realization of a fundamental, constant, and fundamental line of Portuguese foreign policy," Rangel told reporters at the headquarters of Portugal's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.

He said that "Portugal advocates the two-state solution as the only path to a just and lasting peace...a ceasefire is urgent."

This wave of recognition reflects a broader international trend, with over 150 nations currently acknowledging Palestinian statehood.

In light of the upcoming UN summit, an additional ten countries, including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra, and Malta, are expected to announce their recognition of Palestine in the coming days.

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that France would make its formal declaration during the UN session, while UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy emphasized that

Britain's recognition must be part of a comprehensive peace process.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on a call with President Mahmoud Abbas that Ottawa aims to recognize Palestine officially this September.

Similarly, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed support for this move to advance a two-state solution.

Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot and San Marino's Foreign Minister Luca Beccari have also indicated their countries' plans to recognize Palestine together.

This emerging consensus comes as part of an international conference co-led by Saudi Arabia and France.

The Israeli regime, however, condemned these developments , with the head of the Israeli regime, Benjamin Netanyahu, reacting angrily and vowing to oppose it at the UN talks.

Netanyahu said on Sunday that calls for a Palestinian state “would endanger our existence and serve as an absurd reward for terrorism.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian foreign minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin thanked countries that have already recognized or are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state.

She said the move will send “a very clear message to the Israelis on their illusions of continuing their occupation forever.”

Announcements from major Western powers and longtime Israeli allies signal the regime’s increasing international isolation amid its genocidal war on Gaza.

While recognition of Palestine is largely symbolic, it highlights growing global support for Palestine and its statehood.

Critics, however, argue that such moves from countries that are financially and militarily backing Israel are a tactic to maintain their support for Tel Aviv while appearing to side with international public opinion.

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Israel shifts forces deeper into Gaza, strikes hit families trapped inside

News Network

November 21,2025

Local authorities say the Israeli military has expanded the so-called “yellow line” truce demarcation in Gaza City and repositioned its forces deeper into the territory in violation of a ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10, besieging dozens of Palestinian families.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced in a statement on Thursday that Israeli forces widened the boundary by shifting the markers, and advanced roughly 300 meters (984 feet) into the neighborhoods of Ash-Shaaf, An-Nazzaz and Baghdad Street.

The move pushed further into civilian areas, trapping families who were unable to flee as tanks rolled forward, it added.

“The fate of many of these families remains unknown amidst the shelling that targeted the area,” the office said, adding that the expansion of the yellow line shows a “blatant disregard” for the ceasefire deal.

On Friday, sources said the Israeli military carried out continued air and artillery strikes inside the so-called “yellow line” east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the reports, Israeli warplanes and tanks targeted areas within the zone. One Palestinian was reported killed and several others wounded in the strikes, the sources said.

The fresh aggression came only a day after 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Wednesday.

The media office reported that Israel has consistently violated the truce deal since its implementation last month, with near-daily attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings.

The office said over 400 violations have been documented. These breaches have resulted in the deaths of more than 300 Palestinians and left hundreds injured.

The Government Media Office in Gaza urged the guarantors of the ceasefire — the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — to take swift action to halt the ongoing violations and facilitate the delivery of food, shelter materials, medical aid, and infrastructure equipment.

The so-called “yellow line,” set out in the agreement between Israel and Hamas resistance movement, refers to a non-physical partition where the Israeli military repositioned itself when the truce deal took effect.

It has allowed Israel, which routinely fires at Palestinians who approach the line, to retain control over more than half of the Gaza Strip.

International bodies, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and other rights groups, have concluded that the Israeli war on Gaza amounts to genocide.

In the attacks in Gaza since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 69,546 people and injured 170,833 others, leveling large swaths of the territory and displacing almost all of the population.

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