France’s Macron says no embassy in Palestine until Gaza hostages freed

WASHINGTON – France’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state will not include the opening of an embassy until Hamas frees the hostages it is holding in Gaza, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview that aired on Sept 21.

“It will be, for us, a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine,” Mr Macron told CBS News in an interview taped on Sept 18.

The interview was aired as Britain, Australia and Canada on Sept 21

recognised a Palestinian state

in a coordinated, seismic shift from decades of Western foreign policy.

The move triggered swift anger from Israel, which finds itself under huge international pressure over its war against Hamas in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation in the besieged territory.

Portugal was also set to recognise Palestinian statehood later on Sept 21, while France says it will do so along with other countries on Sept 22 at the United Nations.

Mr Macron also spoke out strongly against any plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza – which they want to be part of a future sovereign state – when rebuilding the territory.

“But if the precondition of such a plan is to push them out, this is just a craziness,” Mr Macron said on news programme Face The Nation.

“We should not be – for the credibility of the United States, for the credibility of France – we cannot be implicitly or explicitly complacent with such a project.” AFP