France and other countries prepared to recognise a Palestinian state as the UN's centrepiece diplomatic week got under way on Monday, following a rash of Western governments in symbolically endorsing statehood and sparking Israel's wrath.
Recognition by Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal on Sunday of a Palestinian state piled pressure on Israel as it intensifies its war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands, devastated the enclave and drawn vocal rebukes from its allies.
President Emmanuel Macron has indicated France will follow suit as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution - Palestinian and Israeli coexistence.
He said he would make the release of captives — taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel — a precondition for opening an embassy to the Palestinian state.
Israel's foreign ministry said the recognition moves do not "promote peace, but on the contrary further destabilise the region and undermine the chances of achieving a peaceful solution."
More than 140 world leaders will descend on New York this week for the annual United Nations General Assembly, which will be dominated by the Palestinian question.
One world leader who will miss the gathering is Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian President, whom Washington denied a visa, along with his officials.
That earned a rebuke from the General Assembly, which will be the focus of world leaders' speeches and protest walkouts this week. The assembly voted 145 to five to exceptionally allow Abbas to speak via video link.
The humanitarian catastrophe ravaging the small Palestinian territory will top the agenda, two years after the beginning of the Israeli offensive.
Meanwhile, a flag-raising ceremony was held outside the Palestinian mission in London on Monday, a day after the UK announced it would recognise the State of Palestine, along with Australia, Canada and Portugal.
Head of Mission Husam Zomlot hailed the "long overdue" recognition as the flag was raised in front of a crowd outside the building in Hammersmith in west London.
Holding up a plaque reading "Embassy of the State of Palestine", Zomlot said it would be put up soon, "pending some legal work, some bureaucratic work".
He called the recognition move an "acknowledgement of a historic injustice" at a time of "unimaginable suffering" for the Palestinian people in the war in Gaza.
He said the UK's recognition had particular resonance as Britain was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, through the 1917 Balfour Declaration. — Agencies
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
