France pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claim that recognizing a Palestinian state hands Hamas a victory, arguing the United Nations initiative advanced this week is meant to isolate the group and restore a viable path to two states.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Pascal Confavreux, spokesperson for France’s Foreign Ministry, said the proposal seeks to link recognition with governance reforms by the Palestinian Authority and an explicit condemnation of the Oct. 7 massacre.
Confavreux rejected suggestions that President Emmanuel Macron is positioning himself as an anti-Trump figure on the world stage. He said relations between the two leaders remain functional and that they discussed a range of issues this week.
The French view is that the package complements, rather than confronts, U.S. policy goals if the aim is to build a durable diplomatic track that excludes Hamas from power.
What the French-Saudi package contains
French officials describe a plan led jointly with Saudi Arabia that couples recognition of Palestinian statehood to conditions designed to deny Hamas political legitimacy.
Those conditions include excluding Hamas from any future Palestinian government, reforming the Palestinian Authority’s institutions, and setting requirements for reconstruction and regional economic integration. Paris says the package is structured to create incentives for cooperation while making clear that violence and rejectionism are disqualifying.
In outlining the initiative, Confavreux said the goal is to put all the pieces of a political horizon in one place. Recognition would be paired with obligations on governance and security, and with a clear denunciation of terror.
French diplomats argue that without a coordinated package, the two-state track would continue to drift with no credible on-ramp for negotiations.
Trump’s criticism and France’s response
In his UN address on Tuesday, Trump argued that recognizing a Palestinian state now would “reward Hamas for its horrible atrocities,” warning that premature recognition could embolden terrorists and prolong the conflict.
He urged governments to avoid steps that, in his view, remove leverage over Palestinian factions or undercut Israel’s security.
Confavreux countered that the initiative is the opposite of a reward. He said it is designed as a defeat for Hamas by explicitly barring the group from a future cabinet, conditioning aid on reforms, and anchoring reconstruction in a regional framework.
From Paris’s vantage point, recognition without enforcement is risky, but recognition with conditions and monitoring can push the political center away from Hamas and toward accountable institutions.
Connection to the Abraham Accords
The French spokesperson linked the approach to the logic behind the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements launched during Trump’s first term. Those deals reassured neighboring Arab states on security, then advanced ties with Israel.
Confavreux said the UN initiative follows a similar logic by combining security reassurance, political benchmarks, and economic integration, and he suggested it could pave the way for what he called an “Abraham Two” if Washington chooses to engage.
Critics of the original accords often noted the absence of a Palestinian political track. Paris argues that the new package attempts to fill that gap, aligning regional normalization with a concrete pathway for Palestinian governance that excludes Hamas and binds funding to performance.
