Hamas says France plan to recognise Palestinian state ‘important step’

Hamas said Thursday that the announcement by President Emmanuel Macron that France could recognise a Palestinian state by June was an “important step”, after Israel’s foreign minister slammed the plan.

“We welcome the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding his country’s readiness to recognise the State of Palestine,” Hamas official Mahmud Mardawi told AFP.

He said the announcement was “an important step that, if implemented, would constitute a positive shift in the…