France recognises Palestinian state
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Macron of France has formally recognised a Palestinian state. He made the announcement at a UN summit aimed at rallying support for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. He began his speech by calling for the release of Israeli hostages and an end to the war in Gaza.
Also in the programme: Egypt's president has pardoned the jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who played a key role in the Arab Spring uprising of 2011; and South Korea's president tells the BBC of his hopes that North Korea will pause it nuclear weapon programme.
(Photo credit: EPA)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.4 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service with me, Shai Mechal, coming to you live from London. |
| 0:15.7 | Let's start in New York, where world leaders are gathering in the UN General Assembly in France, |
| 0:20.3 | has become the |
| 0:21.5 | latest Western country formally to recognize the state of Palestine, following Britain, Canada, |
| 0:26.8 | Australia and Portugal doing so yesterday. In the last hour, President Macron has announced |
| 0:31.1 | that France is recognizing the Palestinian state. Today, here in this chamber, we must pave the way for peace because since July |
| 0:41.3 | of last year, developments have accelerated. And at this point, we have reason to fear that the |
| 0:48.9 | Abraham Accords, the Cap David Accords, could be called in question by Israel, and that peace |
| 0:54.0 | would become impossible |
| 0:55.0 | for a long time yet in the Middle East. |
| 0:57.0 | It thus falls to us this historic responsibility. |
| 1:00.0 | We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution. |
| 1:08.0 | Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security. |
| 1:16.6 | The time has come. |
| 1:21.6 | This is why, true to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East |
| 1:29.8 | to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. |
| 1:35.7 | This is why I declare that today |
| 1:39.5 | France recognizes the state of Palestine. |
| 1:43.2 | President Emmanuel Macron of France there, speaking |
| 1:46.7 | via translator, of course, and recognizing the state of Palestine. I'm just looking at live |
| 1:51.3 | pictures from the UN General and Assembly. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, |
... |
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