The Palestinian flag is raised for the first time (with the Eiffel tower in the background) on Dec. 13, 2011 above a UN agency, the UNESCO. (Credit: Joel Saget/AFP.)
France said on Friday that its plan to formally recognise a Palestinian state runs counter to the stance held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognising Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organisation," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, a day after President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognise Palestinian statehood in September.
Hamas welcomed the president's announcement, calling it "a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people".
Israel said that the move "rewards terror", while the U.S. called it "reckless".
But Barrot said in his X message that France, with its decision, was "backing the side of peace against the side of war".
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