“We welcome the French efforts to establish peace in the Middle East and to put an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories,” Bakr said.
Bakr expressed hope that after the French recognition of Palestine, recognition by other countries, “particularly in Europe, will be inevitable.”
On Monday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Paris is already preparing a resolution on Palestinian statehood and if nothing is finalized within 18 months, then France would unilaterally recognize Palestine.
France was one of the permanent UN Security Council nations, alongside Russia, to vote for the Palestinian statehood in the 2014 resolution. However, the resolution failed to pass as the United States vetoed it.
So far, 135 out of the 193 UN member states recognize the State of Palestine.
Earlier Thursday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki said that Palestine had no plans of returning to the UN Security Council to resolve the Palestinian issue of statehood.
Palestinians seek to restore its territories of the West Bank, including partially-occupied East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Israel has been building settlements on the occupied lands.
