Palestinian Gov’t Accuses Israel of ‘Frantic Escalation’

A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
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Palestinian Gov’t Accuses Israel of ‘Frantic Escalation’

A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)
A Palestinian clashing with an Israeli border guard in West Bank town of Huwara on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AFP)

The Palestinian government has accused Israel of fueling tension between both peoples.

This comes in light of clashes that took place in the central West Bank town of Huwara, near the city of Nablus on Friday, in which more than 100 Palestinians were injured.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning Israel's repression and abusive acts.

It blamed the occupation forces for giving the settlers a free hand to attack Palestinian civilians who are launching peaceful protests against expanding Jewish settlements and the confiscation of Palestinian land.

It also held the US administration and the international community accountable for their mismanagement of the conflict and for undermining any chance to achieve political settlement based on the international references for peace, topped by the two-state solution and the “land for peace.”

It urged them to press Israel and take the necessary measures and steps to halt the “frantic escalation" against Palestinians.

Videos posted on social media this week showed Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers taking down Palestinian flags in the town. In response, Palestinians organized a march with people waving flags, leading to confrontations with Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Friday that the medics had dealt with 88 injuries from the Israeli fire in Nablus and nearby towns and villages.

It recorded one injury with live fire, 10 injuries with rubber-coated metal bullets, 72 injuries from tear gas inhalation, two injuries with pepper gas, one stun grenade wound, and two burn injuries.

These casualties were reported in the towns of Beit Dajan, Jabal Sabih, Beita, and Huwara in Nablus during violent confrontations with the occupation forces.

Four people were also injured by rubber-coated metal bullets and dozens have reportedly suffered from smoke inhalation during the Israeli occupation forces' suppression of the weekly Kafr Qaddum march, east of Qalqilya.



France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

 France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
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France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

 France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)

France on Friday dampened expectations Paris could rapidly recognize a Palestinian state, with the French foreign minister saying while it was "determined" to make such a move, recognition had to be more than "symbolic".

France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a UN conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

There had been expectations that France could recognize a Palestinian state during that conference, with President Emmanuel Macron also growing increasingly frustrated with Israel's blocking of aid to the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"France could have taken a symbolic decision. But this is not the choice we made because we have a particular responsibility" as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, while saying Paris was still "determined" to make the move.

Several EU countries including Ireland, Spain and Sweden recognize a Palestinian state. But Germany, while backing a two-state solution, has said recognition now would send the "wrong signal".

France is reportedly working closely on the issue with the United Kingdom, which also so far has not recognized a Palestinian state, at a time when French-British diplomatic ties are becoming increasingly tight after Brexit.

Macron on Thursday said that he expected the conference in New York would take steps "towards recognizing Palestine", without being more specific.

He has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage other governments to do the same and that countries who do not recognize Israel should do so.

Barrot meanwhile also stressed the "absolute necessity" to address the issue of the disarmament of Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable.

Relations between Israel and France have deteriorated over the last weeks, with Israel's foreign ministry accusing Macron of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state" after he called on European countries to harden their stance if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.