Recognition of the state of Palestine: Villepin welcomes a “historic decision” and calls France for an emergency humanitarian operation in Gaza

Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin praised a “historic, expected and courageous decision” on Thursday evening after the announcement by Emmanuel Macron by the recognition of the state of Palestine in September.

In a message published on X, he calls for France to go further in the face of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “We can no longer be satisfied with words or calls without tomorrow,” he wrote, evoking “an absolute emergency” in the face of famine, lack of water and the lack of care for nearly two million civilians.

Villepin pleads for a vast international humanitarian operation, carried by France, aimed at sending food and medicines directly to Gaza. He invites Paris to seize the Security Council and the UN General Assembly to legitimize the initiative, and to form a coalition of volunteers around this objective. “France has an appointment with itself, with its history and with its honor,” he concludes, calling for reconnecting with active and united diplomacy.

The former chief of French diplomacy emphasizes that the recognition of a Palestinian state cannot remain a symbolic gesture. According to him, it must be accompanied by a concrete commitment, in particular in favor of the fundamental rights and the dignity of the Palestinians of Gaza. Dominique de Villepin finally emphasizes the singular role that France can play: that of an “independent, respected and capable of nations” towards a collective response to humanitarian emergency. An answer, he says, which would restore its full meaning to the universalism of human rights.