Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denounced French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that Paris could recognise a Palestinian state by June, saying it would be a "prize" for terrorism, reports FRANCE 24.
"A unilateral recognition of a fictional Palestinian state, by any country, in the reality that we all know, will be a prize for terror and a boost for Hamas," Saar said on X late on Wednesday.
"These kind of actions will not bring peace, security and stability in our region closer, but the opposite – they only push them further away."
Nearly 150 countries recognise a Palestinian state. In May 2024, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced recognition, followed by Slovenia in June, moves partly fuelled by condemnation of Israel's bombing of Gaza that followed the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
But France would be the most significant European power to recognise a Palestinian state, a move the United States has also long resisted but which proponents see as a necessary step to bringing stability to the region.
On Wednesday, Macron said France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June.
"We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months," Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.