In May 2024, when Spain, Ireland, and Norway announced that they would recognize Palestine as an independent state, Western countries supporting the Jews continued to say that this would not help resolve the Gaza issue. Although France, the United Kingdom, and Canada stated that the solution to the Palestinian issue was to establish a policy of having an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, these countries were very concerned that supporting this policy could be seen as supporting Hamas, which rules Gaza. They were also worried that this might strain relations between these countries, America, and Israel. At the same time, while there was a possibility that talks regarding the Palestinian issue might not yield desirable results, these Western countries’ reluctance to use their foreign and political influence on this issue was also a reason for their hesitation to discuss the Palestinian issue. French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time that his country would not recognize Palestine as an independent state out of emotion.
However, due to the Jews repeatedly obstructing humanitarian aid to Gaza, the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsened. When the Jews violated the January ceasefire agreement between them and Hamas to stop the aggression, and resumed attacks after a two-month pause in exchanging attacks, the main three Western countries among the G7 nations began discussions to shift course towards recognizing Palestine as an independent state by this September. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the fear of losing the policy of having an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel was one of the main reasons for the current state of the Palestinian situation. Therefore, he said that Canada and its partners had to start working to change that.
France and the United States have jointly developed plans to encourage Western countries to recognize Palestine as an independent state. Although the two countries wanted to present these proposals at the UN conference scheduled for June, they did not receive much support from other countries for this effort. However, in this situation, when the Jews suddenly attacked Iran, and due to pressures from the United States, that meeting was postponed. With the Jewish attack on Iran, Western countries’ open criticism of Jewish actions ceased. There were also difficulties in gaining support for specific proposals from Arab countries. However, throughout June and July, Macron, Carney, and British Prime Minister Karl Starmer continued to discuss and exchange ideas on the Palestinian issue via phone calls and messages.
Canada hesitated to take such a big step as recognizing Palestine as an independent state alone. The UK hesitated because there was no certainty that such a decision would have a greater impact than being just a symbolic decision. However, France decided to take a bold step forward. As photos and videos of the devastated Gaza and its starving inhabitants circulated on social media, many people continued to express concern about the situation in Gaza. Due to the inhumane aggressive attacks by Jews on Gaza’s citizens and the attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians living in the West Bank, questions were being raised about whether an independent Palestinian state could be established.
On July 24, French President Macron suddenly announced that his country would recognize Palestine as an independent state at the UN General Assembly scheduled for September. Canada and the UK did not immediately copy France’s decision. However, when US President Donald Trump said that France’s decision was not a weighty one, and that Macron was still a “good guy,” countries realized that France’s decision had not significantly affected its foreign relations with the United States.
Two days after France announced its decision, Macron consulted with Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about a possible path to implementing a policy of having an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Starmer then met with Trump in Scotland. At that meeting, Starmer asked Trump to make more efforts to help Gaza. However, Trump said that Starmer did not talk about recognizing Palestine as an independent state at that meeting. After the meeting, Trump said that recognizing Palestine as an independent state at this juncture would be like giving a reward to Hamas.
While Trump was in the UK, on July 29, Starmer held a meeting of the Cabinet ministers who were on vacation, sought their opinion on recognizing Palestine as an independent state, and obtained the Cabinet’s support for the proposal. The UK has announced that it will also recognize Palestine as an independent state in September if a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is not reached and if there is no proposal from the Jews for a permanent peace settlement.
Like Macron, Starmer also discussed the UK’s decision with Canada’s Carney. With both France and the UK announcing that they would recognize Palestine’s independence, Canada also realized that it was time for them to take that step. Six days after Macron announced his decision, Carney said that international cooperation was very important for establishing permanent peace and stability in the Middle East. He said that Canada would do whatever it could to achieve that. The reality is that the decisions of these three countries will not bring much change to the Palestinian issue. US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio also said that this decision was weightless. Germany, Italy, and Japan, the other members of the G7, have not given any indication so far that they will recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Three-quarters of the 193 countries in the UN General Assembly already recognize Palestine as an independent state. However, due to America’s opposition and its veto power in the UN Security Council, the UN has been unable to recognize Palestine as a full member. If the UN grants membership to Palestine, it would mean international agreement that Palestine is an independent state.
However, Richard Gowan, Director of the UN International Crisis Group, said that the recognition of Palestine’s independence by three G7 countries was important decisions. He said that with America’s main allies recognizing Palestine’s independence at the UN, the Jews can no longer say that the effort to establish Palestine as an independent state is a weightless effort.
