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 Sunday in the United States.
"It will be, for us, a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine," Macron told CBS News in an interview that was recorded on Thursday.
The comments emerged as leaders of Britain, Australia and Canada announced they would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on social media: "Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine."
Mark Carney, the Canadian premier, said: "Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future."
His Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, said Canberra's move "recognises the legitimate and long held aspirations of the people of Palestine to a state of their own".
Portugal was also set to recognise Palestinian statehood.
British PM Starmer says UK to recognise Palestinian state at UN General Assembly
Displacement plans
Macron also spoke out 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," Macron said on "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."
Mahmud Mardaw, a senior Hamas official, hailed the move to recognise a Palestinian state.
"These developments represent a victory for Palestinian rights and the justice of our cause," he told the French news agency AFP.
"And it sends a clear message: no matter how far the occupation goes in its crimes, it will never be able to erase our national rights.
In a communique issued on Sunday, Hamas said the recognition must be accompanied by "practical measures".
These, it said, should include an immediate halt to "the genocidal war being waged against our people in the Gaza Strip and confronting the ongoing annexation and judaisation projects in the West Bank and Jerusalem."
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Israeli reaction
The roster of countries stating their intention to recognise a Palestinian state brought an angry response from Israeli politicians.
Isaac Herzog, Israel's president, said the acknowledgement would be detrimental ntal to those seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"It will not help one Palestinian, it won't help free one hostage," said Herzog in a statement. "And it will not help us reach any settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
"It will only embolden the forces of darkness. This is a sad day for those who seek true peace."
In a message addressed to Starmer, Albanese and Carney, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said there would be no Palestinian state.
"I have a clear message for those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7: you are granting a huge reward to terror," he said.
"And I have another message for you: it will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River."
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'One-sided recognition'
Before Netanyahu's statement, Israel's foreign ministry rejected what it called the "one-sided" recognition of a Palestinian state.
"This declaration does not promote peace, but on the contrary further destabilises the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future," it added.
"Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly wish to stabilise the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and to disarm immediately.
"The declaration not only rewards the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by a terror organisation that is calling and acting for the annihilation of Israel, but also solidifies the support Hamas enjoys.
"This move goes against all logic of negotiation and reaching a compromise between two sides, and it will push the desired peace further away," the ministry said.
"In any case, Israel will not accept any detached and imaginary text that attempts to force it to accept indefensible borders," it added.
In an effort to seize Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, the Israeli military has recently intensified its air assaults and launched a major ground offensive.
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Efforts to flee Gaza City
So far more than 550,000 people have fled the city and moved southward, the military said on Sunday.
On Sunday, at least 32 people were killed in Gaza City in Israeli strikes, according to the territory's civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority.
Mohammed Abu Khousa, a resident of Deir el-Balah, told AFP that he hoped that other countries would also follow the lead of Britain, Canada and Australia in recognising a Palestinian state.
"It chips away at Israel's legitimacy and gives our cause a new spark of hope," he said. "This could push more countries to recognise us, and hopefully bring an end to the war."
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
The assault resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
During the raid, Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, of which 47 still remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military response has left at least 65,000 people dead in Gaza, ccording to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, figures which the United Nations finds reliable.
