Ex-FM calls on France to accelerate recognition of Palestine

Former French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for “accelerating” the recognition of the Palestinian state.

Le Drian, France’s special envoy to Lebanon, said in an interview with BFMTV: “We must move faster […] There is nothing worse than the condition of a people without a destiny and without a horizon. We must give a point of view other than Hamas. It is clear that recognition of the Palestinian state must occur with the Palestinian Authority.”

It is also necessary, he added, to “urgently move forward with the implementation” of the American plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, saying: “Negotiations must be allowed to take place to reach a ceasefire and release the hostages. It is essential for everyone, essential for the security of the region, and for the future of Israel and the Palestinian people. They are traumatised and bruised by everything that is happening.”

The former foreign minister also considered that the recent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip did not serve its “interests”, describing it as a “massacre.”

This comes days after Le Drian told French newspaper Le Parisien that recognition of the State of Palestine “has become necessary,” noting that without this step, which would “give new strength to the only possible political solution,” the Middle East will remain in an “endless war,” which “indiscriminately strikes Palestinian citizens.”

French President Emmanuel Macron stated last week that Paris is ready to recognise a Palestinian state, as Ireland, Norway and Spain have, but stressed that he does not want to give in to “emotion”, saying that this recognition “must come at a useful time.”

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