Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign minister, will formally present his country’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state at the rescheduled French-Saudi conference in New York on July 28th. Meanwhile, the war in Gaza continues unabated. ■

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany demanded Israel allow unrestricted aid into Gaza to end a “humanitarian catastrophe," after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state.

France has announced its intention to become the first member of the Group of Seven to recognize Palestine as a state. Ireland, Norway and Spain have already done so, breaking from a consensus within Western Europe and the US that the Palestinians should achieve statehood through negotiations with Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron shared a letter addressed to the leader of the Palestinian Authority on Thursday, citing a need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

There are 147 UN member states out of 193 that recognise the state of Palestine - but the UK is not one of them

More than half of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.