On Saturday, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sijournie declared that “Palestinians have the right to sovereignty and to establish a state,” following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reiterated opposition to “Palestinian sovereignty” in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking on the X platform, Sijournie reaffirmed France’s commitment to achieving this goal, emphasizing France’s unwavering support for the Palestinian aspiration for statehood.
The French minister’s stance came in response to Netanyahu’s recent statements, which strongly contested the idea of Palestinian sovereignty over Gaza, underscoring that Israel must maintain complete security control over Palestinian territories.
The Israeli Prime Minister and members of his government voiced their opposition yesterday to the establishment of a Palestinian state, a position counter to that of the United States, which advocates for this option following the war on Gaza.
Netanyahu asserted that Israel will not relinquish its full security control over the lands west of the Jordan River, known as the West Bank. He added that ceding these territories—which constitute occupied Palestinian land—would be incompatible with the existence of a Palestinian state.
He has previously stated his opposition to any Palestinian state that does not ensure Israel’s security.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office denied the reports by CNN, which attributed to Netanyahu a commitment to the Palestinian state during a phone call on Friday with U.S. President Joe Biden. The office confirmed that Netanyahu reiterated his steadfast stance on the Palestinian State to President Biden.
Washington and Europe support the two-state solution, a stance opposed by the Israeli government, which continues its deadly war on the Gaza Strip for the 107th consecutive day following the “Al-Aqsa Maelstrom” attack on towns surrounding Gaza on October 7, 2023.
