Emmanuel Macron announced that France, the first G7 country to recognize the State of Palestine in September of this year, or, to be more precise, during the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

This is a just, necessary, and proper decision, given that, at present, a full 142 member states of the United Nations already recognize Palestine as a state. It is true that among the aforementioned 142 members, most Western countries still appear to be missing. On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while expressing support for the content of French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement regarding the decision to recognize the State of Palestine, has in turn stated, according to what has been learned from press agencies, that "Russia has always supported the two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian, to end the conflict in the Middle East," since such a solution is already stated "in all UN Security Council resolutions."

Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, when asked about the matter, stated that "recognition of the State of Palestine, without there being a State of Palestine, could even be counterproductive to the objective." In essence, it would seem that, with specific reference to the Italian position, which is also that of the United States of America, barring changes dictated by current circumstances, it is believed that the proposed "two peoples, two states" solution should be achieved and built through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians with a two-state vision.

No question, some might argue. Ideally, these positions would seem to be all legitimate in their articulation. If only, given the situation presented and dramatically reported by the media to general attention, discussing negotiations might seem almost surreal. In short, if in the aftermath of October 7, 2023, Israel's historical allies "embraced" the country after it was attacked by Hamas. If those same historical allies had believed that the Netanyahu government's armed reaction was a necessary response to guarantee Israel's security, after almost two years, that same "reaction" likely no longer appears to be such.

Israel's continued attacks on the Gaza Strip would appear (the cautiously conditional is in order) to be purposefully oriented and aimed at definitively averting any and all political resolution to the so-called Palestinian question: that is, to be clear, the creation and formal recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. To put it another way: even if the decision announced by Emmanuel Macron cannot be considered definitive in the full sense of the term, it must nevertheless be shared by European countries individually and by the European Union as a whole, as it represents, and expresses, the firm condemnation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan. Netanyahu, through his provision aimed at resuming aid while simultaneously announcing humanitarian truces, cannot possibly overcome international pressure to secure a ceasefire. No "defensive war" can justify the loss of so many human lives.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore

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