Saudi Arabia welcomed on Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize Palestine as a state.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom hails “this historic decision, which underscores the international community’s consensus on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Kingdom stressed “the importance of continued efforts by states to implement international resolutions and uphold international law.”
It reiterated its call for all countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine “to take similar positive steps and adopt serious positions that support peace and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the UN General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he wrote.
The mostly symbolic move puts added diplomatic pressure on Israel as the war and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip rage. France is now the biggest Western power to recognize Palestine, and the move could pave the way for other countries to do the same. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.
