Macron's remarks came during a joint press conference in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, as part of an official visit to the country.
Speaking about the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, Macron said that his country "condemned the attacks of October 7, 2023, and considered that Israel has the right to defend itself." However, he denied that France was practicing "double standards" in this regard, stressing that Paris had called for a ceasefire since the beginning of the war and was making efforts to achieve peace and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Strip.
The French president added: "This is why we are working to find a path that can lead to a two-state solution and mutual recognition... Only a political solution today can restore peace and build it in the long term."
He explained that his country is working in cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to organize a conference on Gaza in New York, aiming to revive international efforts to recognize a Palestinian state, while guaranteeing "the right of the State of Israel to live in peace and security in the region," as Macron put it .
Macron announced last April that his country "may recognize the State of Palestine" during the international conference on the "two-state solution."
In May 2024, the United Nations General Assembly, at its tenth special session, voted in favor of a draft resolution supporting Palestine's application for full membership in the United Nations.
Palestine currently enjoys non-member observer state status in the United Nations, a status it obtained on November 29, 2012, pursuant to a General Assembly resolution.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a war of extermination in Gaza, leaving more than 177,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
