France’s Melenchon says Palestinian statehood must be recognised
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France’s left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), made the statement after exit polls from the French election projected that his coalition would become the biggest parliamentary bloc and consequently able to appoint the next prime minister.
Melenchon said France’s next prime minister will come from the NFP and that the coalition can “decide many things by decree”.
He added, “On the international level, we will have to agree to recognise the State of Palestine.”
Nous aurons un ou une Premier ministre du Nouveau Front Populaire.
Nous pourrons décider de nombreuses choses par décrets.
Sur le plan international, il faudra s'entendre pour reconnaître l'État de Palestine.#VictoireNFP pic.twitter.com/XYkzTk0zS4
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) July 7, 2024
Palestinians in Gaza ‘trapped in a hell without comparison’
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian Territory, spoke to Al Jazeera about Israel’s war on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
“The people in Gaza are trapped in a hell without comparison,” she said. “It is shocking to me that there is even a resolution of the UN Security Council ordering a ceasefire and it still is not in place.”
Albanese also noted that the “international community seems to be oblivious” to the increasing violence Palestinians are facing in the occupied West Bank. “In recent days, Israeli ministers have spoken of advancing the annexation of all the largest weights of the West Bank,” she said.
“Gaza is not an isolated case. Israel seems to be at war with the Palestinians as a whole.”