This week Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signalled she's ready to join France and some 150 countries around the world in formally recognising a Palestinian state, subject to conditions, with French President Emmanuel Macron stating in his United Nations address that such a grant of statehood is "a right" and "not a reward”.
The recognition came in response to the extremely dire situation in Gaza, with recent reports from the UN declaring that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. The war in Gaza started after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, many of them civilians.
