Emmanuel Macron asks Palestinian recognition critics "what credibility do we have" if no Gaza action

At his final UN General Assembly address, French President Emmanuel Macron defended his record on Israel and the Palestinians and said Israel used Hamas as a pretext to breach international law in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the criticism, citing the killing days earlier of settler Netanel Shukrun, whom he described as a French citizen. Addressing critics who call the recognition of Palestinian statehood by France and 11 other Western nations a year ago merely symbolic, Macron argued that declining to act on Gaza would cost those countries their standing. Palestinian ambassador Hala Abou Hassira told The National that the recognition must not be dismissed as meaningless, while saying more pressure on Israel is needed. Ties between Paris and Jerusalem have been strained since the recognitions.