France may recognise Palestine as an Independent and Sovereign State in June 2025. French President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron made an announcement in this regard on April 9. Analysts consider Macron’s message as a significant one in the context of the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza.

President Macron hinted that his government could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June, stressing: “We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months. Our aim is to chair this conference with Saudi Arabia, where we could finalise this movement of mutual recognition by several parties.” He further said: “I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do.” The French President believes that such recognition would allow his country “to be clear in our fight against those who deny Israel’s right to exist, which is the case with Iran, and to commit ourselves to collective security in the region”.

France has always championed the Two-State Solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Most importantly, Paris did not change its stance even after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas Movement. However, a formal recognition of a Palestinian State would mark a major policy shift and could also antagonise the Jewish Nation that insists such moves by foreign states are premature. It may be noted that France would be the fourth European nation to recognise a Palestinian State after Spain, Ireland and Norway who recognised Palestine in 2024, ignoring Israel’s objections.

The US and most of its European allies have long backed Israel and rejected Palestinian demands for independence. In May 2024, 143 of 193 member states of the UN recognised Palestine as a Sovereign State during a General Assembly session. However, it did not come into effect because of the US’ opposition to the proposal. It is believed that President Macron’s proposed move would have a great impact on the Palestinian issue.

Gazans Take To The Streets Against Hamas
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to stage protests against Hamas for three consecutive days in the last week of March 2025. Political analysts are of the opinion that the Palestinians are frustrated with the failure of the ceasefire with Israel and the increasing economic losses since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023. However, the Palestinian Movement has claimed that the Gazans staged protests against the Zionist Regime.

Bassem Naim, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, told the press that “demonstrations are expected from people facing extermination, against war and destruction”. He stressed: “People are calling to stop the aggression, but the enemy and other parties with political agendas are diverting the spontaneous protests to serve the occupation’s agenda and trying to portray it as if the demonstrators are against the resistance.” Naim further said: “We understand well that our people are politically diverse, and we protect both opinions and opposing views. No one has the right to forbid anyone from expressing their opinion. But the people took to the streets, calling to stop the war and end the aggression.”

More than 50,000 people have been killed since the start of the Hamas-Israel War and the death toll is steadily increasing. Thousands of residences, hospitals and schools have also been destroyed in the Israeli attacks. Although Gazans were hopeful about a total ceasefire, they have realised that it is still unlikely to happen. Now, people in Gaza have started raising anti-Hamas slogans.

A Gazan man, named Sami Ubayed, told Ynet News outlet of Israel: “They made the residents into rabbits, and now they have broken free of the fear because they have nothing to lose.” He stated: “Residents have no water or electricity. Hamas is destroying Gaza and making us into stones, they must be removed from power. We won’t stop demonstrating, Hamas needs to be flexible and release the hostages.” It may be noted that anti-Hamas protests are relatively rare events and are often suppressed violently by the Palestinian Movement.

Egypt Ready To Confront All ‘Plots’
(Executive Intelligence Review; March 27, 2025) At a time when Israel has launched an offensive in Gaza that can only be compared to the end of the Warsaw Ghetto, an Egyptian Army spokesperson has held a briefing session with the state-run MENA news agency on the Armed Forces’ preparedness to deal with the current crisis and any plots against the Egyptian State. Brigadier General Gharib Abdel Hafez asserted that “the Armed Forces are ready to confront all challenges facing the Egyptian State”. He also stressed on Egypt’s historic support for both the Palestinian cause and the establishment of a Palestinian State, saying (according to Al Ahram) that displacing the Palestinian people from their land means liquidating the Palestinian issue.

Significantly, Brigadier General Hafez stated that the Egyptian State had anticipated the possibility of the current crisis in 2011, when the uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood happened in Egypt. “Therefore, the Armed Forces developed their capabilities and armament systems significantly throughout the past decade to prepare for any possible confrontations,” he added.

The timing of issuing this statement is quite important. The Israelis have accused Egypt of deploying military assets in the Sinai Peninsula, which is forbidden under the 1979 Peace Treaty. Egypt has pointed to Israeli violations of the same treaty, in its genocidal war against Gaza. According to Brigadier General Hafez, “The political leadership is deeply aware of the plots being hatched and has, therefore, prepared carefully developed pre-emptive plans.”

The Egyptian Government recently proposed a reconstruction plan for Gaza that has been endorsed by the Arab League and could be usefully complemented by the Schiller Institute’s Oasis Plan.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das