French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that recognizing the state of Palestine does not amount to forgetting the deadly October 2023 Hamas attack.
Macron made his comments to reporters as he sat next to President Donald Trump in a bilateral meeting.
Trump has condemned moves by Western powers, including France, to recognize a Palestinian state, saying such steps would reward "horrible atrocities" by Hamas terrorists.
Remember the massacre
"I think it honors Hamas and you can't do that because of October 7. You just can't do that," Trump told reporters when asked about the recognition of the state of Palestine.
"Nobody forgets the 7th of October," Macron told reporters while sitting next to Trump.
"But after almost two years of war, what is the result," Macron said, adding: "This is not the right the right way to proceed."
Macron advocated for a political process as Trump affirmed his support for Israel.
If US President Donald Trump really wants to win the Nobel peace prize, he needs to stop the war in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
Speaking to France's BFM TV from New York, Macron said only Trump had the power to put pressure on Israel to end the war.
"There is one person who can do something about it, and that is the US president," Macron said.
"And the reason he can do more than us, is because we do not supply weapons that allow the war in Gaza to be waged. We do not supply equipment that allows war to be waged in Gaza. The United States of America does."
This is a developing story.