French President Emmanuel Macron’s resolution to acknowledge Palestinian statehood instantly ended any probability of profitable ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has mentioned.
Talks with Hamas “fell aside on the day Macron made the unilateral resolution that he’s going to acknowledge the Palestinian state,” Rubio mentioned in an interview this week with Everlasting Phrase Tv Community, a Catholic TV broadcaster.
The UK and Canada adopted France’s lead shortly afterwards, prompting criticism by the U.S. and Israel.
The selections to acknowledge a Palestinian state come amid mounting worldwide condemnation of the humanitarian state of affairs within the Gaza Strip, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer describing the “struggling and hunger” in Gaza as “unspeakable and indefensible.”
Rubio mentioned within the Thursday interview that these selections confirmed Hamas that the militant group was being rewarded for its actions. “If I’m Hamas, I’d mainly conclude: ‘Let’s not do a ceasefire, we may be rewarded, we are able to declare it as a victory,’ ” Rubio mentioned.
The U.S. pulled out of the ceasefire talks on the identical day that France mentioned it will acknowledge Palestinian statehood, with Washington’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff saying Hamas was not appearing in good religion.