French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a high-profile meeting at the United Nations aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on September 22, 2025, at UN headquarters. ANGELINA KATSANIS / AP
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, September 22, recognized a Palestinian state, leading a UN summit that already spurred other Western governments to take the landmark step that has infuriated Israel. "The time for peace has come, as we are just moments away from no longer being able to seize it," Macron told the summit, which concluded late Monday. "The time has come to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombings of Gaza, the massacres and the displacement."
Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told the summit, which was called by France and Saudi Arabia, that all countries should follow suit and recognize a Palestinian state. Australia, Britain, Canada and Portugal also took the largely symbolic step of recognition on the eve of the summit, piling pressure on Israel as it intensifies its retaliatory war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Macron earlier said he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel a precondition for opening a French embassy to the Palestinian state.
