France rebuts Rubio's claim that Palestinian statehood recognition disrupted Gaza ceasefire talks

Paris [France], September 7 : France's foreign ministry has fired back at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he claimed that France's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood derailed Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations.

In a post on X on Saturday (local time), the French Response, a new X account affiliated with the French Foreign Ministry, as reported by Politico, directly refuted Rubio's accusation, stating, "No, @SecRubio, the recognition of the State of Palestine did not cause the breakdown of hostage negotiations."

The account shared a thread, including one featuring a screenshot from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dated July 24 at 3:54 pm (local time), discussing the failure of Gaza peace negotiations.

This was followed by another screenshot of a post by French President Emmanuel Macron, referencing France's recognition of a Palestinian state, which was posted on the same day at 9:16 pm (local time), further cementing Paris's position on the matter.

"Emmanuel Macron mentioned the recognition of a Palestinian State, while underlying that the Hamas has to be disarmed and has no role to play in the governance of the Gaza Strip," the post read.

This exchange marks an escalation in diplomatic tension between the two nations following Rubio's strong condemnation of France's move, which he previously labelled "reckless".

In an earlier post on X, after Macron's announcement, Rubio criticised the French President's initiative at the United Nations General Assembly, saying, "This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th."

Last week, Rubio reiterated his stance, asserting that France's announcement led Hamas to abandon peace talks, The Hill reported.

"The minute - the day - that the French announced the thing they did that day, Hamas walked away from the negotiating table... They immediately increased their demands and walked away and stopped negotiating," Rubio said, as quoted by The Hill.

Earlier in July, the French President declared that France would officially recognise Palestinian statehood during the United Nations General Assembly to be held this month.

Following in his footsteps, leaders from Australia, Canada, Portugal, and the United Kingdom are also set to recognise the State of Palestine during the Assembly.

Belgium is the latest name in the list that called for recognition of the State of Palestine and further called for "firm sanctions" against the Israeli government.

On Tuesday, Macron stated that France and Saudi Arabia will co-chair a high-profile conference on the Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in New York on September 22, aimed at garnering broad international support for peace and security in the region.

In a statement posted on X, Macron also called on the US to reverse its decision to deny visas to Palestinian officials, describing the move as "unacceptable", while emphasising the importance of Palestinian representation in the conference in accordance with the Host Country Agreement.

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