French President Emmanuel Macron said that France’s recognition of a Palestinian state is intended to undermine Hamas by providing Palestinians with a credible political alternative, in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, released on Sunday.
“We don’t recognize Palestine to reward violence. We do it to create a political horizon, especially for those who reject Hamas,” Macron said.
The recognition plan, which is expected to be formally introduced during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, is part of a broader diplomatic initiative led by France and Saudi Arabia, with the backing of regional partners.
Macron stated that Hamas is not interested in establishing a Palestinian state but rather in the destruction of Israel.
“The objective of Hamas is absolutely not to create a Palestinian state,” he said. “The objective of Hamas is to destroy Israel, to convince the maximum number of people that they have no chance to have peace and stability, and precisely a Palestinian state, and to kill the maximum number of Israeli people.
“This is why, if we want to stop this war, if we want to isolate Hamas, the recognition process and the peace plan that accompanies it is a necessary condition.”
According to Macron, the effort is designed to bolster the Palestinian Authority and prevent further radicalization among Palestinians.
“My first point is to say I don’t answer Hamas with that. I don’t meet the expectations of Hamas,” he said. “Hamas is just obsessed with destroying Israel. But I recognize the legitimacy of so many Palestinian people. They want a state. They are a people, and we do not want to push them into Hamas’s arms if we do not offer them a political perspective.”
Macron argued that the absence of a political process has left Palestinians trapped between hopelessness and extremism.
“If such recognition is not given, the only answer will be security. And they will be completely trapped by Hamas,” he said.
He also claimed that the diplomatic initiative is already gaining traction, pointing to the New York declaration supported by 142 countries.
“We gathered all the Arab League states, all the leaders of the region, to work closely with us to dismantle and disarm Hamas,” Macron said. “Until now, they were not engaged in such a move.”
France’s recognition plan is structured in phases. The first phase includes a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the release of hostages still held from the October 7 attacks, and the restoration of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Macron said France would only open an embassy after these conditions are fulfilled. Later phases include the reconstruction of Gaza and concrete steps toward a two-state solution.
Macron confirmed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to publicly denounce Hamas, implement reforms, and commit to holding elections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Macron’s position and accused France of fueling antisemitism. The Israeli government continues to oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and has maintained military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Macron said that although Israel has succeeded in eliminating several senior leaders of both Hamas and Hezbollah, it has not achieved its strategic goal of weakening Hamas.
“Israel has wonderful security results against Hezbollah and Hamas' top leaders. They managed to neutralize a lot of top decision-makers of terror groups. This is to their credit,” he said. “But in terms of fighting against Hamas, this is a failure today. They killed all the key leaders. This is a success.
“But at the beginning of this war, you had more or less 25,000 Hamas fighters. The Israeli army probably killed half of them, but Hamas managed to recruit a similar number.
'If we want to dismantle Hamas, total war is not the answer'
“You have as many fighters as at the beginning. This is the best evidence of the fact that if we want to dismantle Hamas, total war is not the answer. It is just killing the credibility of Israel. And by the way, it is weakening and killing our own credibility if we do not make a move such as the one we are organizing.”
Macron warned that military action alone, without diplomacy, will only prolong the conflict.
“There is no future with the option of just ‘Let’s kill the maximum number of Hamas people,’ because they will just recruit others and others,” he said. “Each time they launch this type of operation, they kill so many civilians that they are just destroying their own reputation and credibility. They are creating an unsustainable framework of security in the whole region.”
He emphasized that France remains committed to Israel’s security and to efforts to secure the release of the hostages. “We do share the pain and suffering of the Israeli people, and my top priority is the release of the hostages,” Macron said.
He also rejected suggestions that France’s position constitutes antisemitism.
“Disagreeing with Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make me an antisemite,” he said.
France was the first country in Europe to adopt a definition of antisemitism that includes anti-Zionism, he recalled.
A total of 147 UN member states currently recognize the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. Macron stated that the current diplomatic push aims to unite international and regional actors around a long-term vision for political stability and security.