France and other countries prepare to recognise a Palestinian state as the UN’s centrepiece diplomatic week gets underway today, following a rash of Western governments in symbolically endorsing statehood and sparking Israel’s wrath, AFP reports.

Recognition by Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal yesterday of a Palestinian state piled pressure on Israel as it intensifies its war on Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands, devastated the enclave and drawn vocal rebukes from its allies.

President Emmanuel Macron has indicated France will follow suit today as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution — Palestinian and Israeli coexistence.

“They want a nation, they want a state, and we should not push them towards Hamas,” Macron told CBS News’s “Face the Nation”, adding that the move would help isolate the armed group.

He also said that he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, a precondition of opening an embassy to the Palestinian state.