France’s President Emmanuel Macron hopes that his country formally recognising a Palestinian state in September will encourage other countries to follow suit, according to analysts.International envoys are set to discuss a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict early next week in New York, before a further summit co-hosted by France ahead of the UN General Assembly in September.- Why now? -Macron’s announcement on Thursday came as international alarm grew about the plight of the more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis and warnings of mass starvation.”The sense of urgency may have driven the president to move forward alone,” France’s former ambassador to Israel Gerard Araud told the France Inter broadcaster.Besides the humanitarian crisis and “the shocking declarations of certain Israeli ministers” on the fate they wish for all Gazans, Macron may also have been influenced by the political climate in France, said David Khalfa of the Jean Jaures Foundation.The war has triggered tensions in France, which is home to the largest Muslim community in the European Union, as well as the biggest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States.- What’s the plan? -France has long advocated for the so-called “two-state solution” for a Palestinian state to live in peace side-by-side with an Israeli one.Macron’s original idea was for France and other countries to recognise a Palestinian state at the same time as other nations — including Gulf heavyweight Saudi Arabia — normalised ties with Israel.As that proposal did not appear to gain traction, Macron made his announcement in the hope of spurring others to do likewise in the run-up to September’s UN General Assembly, said analyst Amelie Ferey.”The idea is to have a little over a month to potentially rally other countries to make a larger announcement in New York,” said Ferey, an analyst at the French Institute of International Relations.”The United Kingdom and Canada could perhaps follow suit,” she added.- Will it work? -Canada, France and Britain were among 25 countries on Monday to say the Gaza war “must end now”, arguing that the suffering of civilians had “reached new depths”.Mujtaba Rahman, the Europe director of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was under pressure from his Labour party to act.”He wants to move in concert with other countries and use recognition as a card in negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.”But the timing is awkward” as US President Donald Trump arrives in Scotland on Friday evening, he added.”Starmer will be reluctant to upset him when there’s still things to be done on the UK-US trade deal.”- Why team up with Riyadh? -As France has no leverage to end the current Gaza war, “the idea in Paris is to let the United States impose a ceasefire, and for Paris to then be an important actor afterwards, along with the Saudis,” said Ferey.Camille Lons, an expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations, said France and Saudi Arabia were working on a post-ceasefire roadmap.This would include proposals for “the isolation and disarmament of Hamas, Palestinian elections in 2026, a new legal framework for political parties” and “the prospect of having a technocratic government”, she said.Other options on the table could include a UN peacekeeping mission, including personnel from neighbouring Egypt, she said. “The goal is to garner support from countries in the region for the sidelining of Hamas, including Qatar,” an ally of the Palestinian Islamist group, she added.- Is it realistic? -But “this is all quite detached from reality”, warned Lons.For Ferey, “the Israeli government’s goal is for there to be no Palestinian state.”After almost 22 months of war in Gaza, sparked by an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, the blockaded Palestinian territory has been largely ravaged by bombardment.And Israel’s far-right government is pushing for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.Many Israelis now live in what would become a Palestinian state.Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and its 200,000 Jewish residents, the occupied West Bank is home to around 500,000 Israelis in settlements considered illegal under international law. Three million Palestinians also live in the West Bank.Khalfa added that Saudi Arabia had no intention to normalise its ties with Israel for as long as Prime Minister Netanyahu — who critics accuse of prolonging the Gaza war to stay in office — remains in power.

France’s highest court Friday annulled a French arrest warrant against Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad — issued before his ouster — over 2013 deadly chemical attacks.The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, “new arrest warrants can have been, or can be, issued against him” and as such the investigation into the case could continue.Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule that immunity did not apply because of the severity of the allegations, which would have set a major precedent in international law towards holding accused war criminals to account.French authorities issued the warrant against Assad in November 2023 over his alleged role in the chain of command for a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013 in Adra and Douma outside Damascus.Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case, though Syrian authorities at the time denied involvement and blamed rebels.The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries.An investigation — based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage — led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher who headed an elite army unit, and two generals.Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state.The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed.French investigating magistrates in January issued a second arrest warrant against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.

The United Nations rights chief on Friday slammed Britain’s ban on activist group Palestine Action as a “disturbing” misuse of UK counter-terrorism legislation and urged the government to rescind its move.”The decision appears disproportionate and unnecessary,” Volker Turk said in a statement.The ban, introduced under Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000, took effect earlier this month after activists from the group broke into an air force base in southern England.Two aircraft were sprayed with red paint, causing an estimated £7.0 million ($9.55 million) in damage.Turk’s statement said the ban raised “serious concerns that counter-terrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK”.He stressed: “According to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not.”But the ban among other things makes it a criminal offence to be a member of Palestine Action, to express support for the group or wear items of clothing that would arouse “reasonable suspicion” that the person is a member or supporter of the group, Turk pointed out. – Peaceful protest -UK police have arrested at least 200 people during protests, many of them peaceful, over the ban since it took effect, the UN rights office said.Palestine Action itself has condemned its outlawing — which makes it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison — as an attack on free speech.The UN high commissioner for human rights agreed.The ban, Turk said, “limits the rights of many people involved with and supportive of Palestine Action who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association”.”As such, it appears to constitute an impermissible restriction on those rights that is at odds with the UK’s obligations under international human rights law.”The rights chief warned that the government’s decision “also conflates protected expression and other conduct with acts of terrorism and so could readily lead to further chilling effect on the lawful exercise of these rights by many people”.”I urge the UK government to rescind its decision to proscribe Palestine Action and to halt investigations and further proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of this proscription,” he said.”I also call on the UK government to review and revise its counter-terrorism legislation, including its definition of terrorist acts, to bring it fully in line with international human rights norms and standards.”