The French foreign ministry shot back at Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he accused France of stalling Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks by recognizing Palestinian statehood in late July.<\/p>\n
The French foreign ministry countered Rubio’s argument in a Saturday post on X<\/a>, writing, “No, @SecRubio<\/a>, the recognition of the State of Palestine did not cause the breakdown of hostage negotiations.”<\/p>\n The post was followed by several others, including one that featured a screenshot of a post timestamped July 24 at 3:54 p.m. local time, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote about failed Gaza peace deal negotiations. A subsequent post showed a screenshot of a post from the same day at 9:16 p.m. local time in which French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n “The negotiations had already collapsed before France’s announcement,” the French Response account wrote<\/a>. “This narrative blaming France is diverting attention from the real responsibility of Hamas in the deadlock.”<\/p>\n The pushback from the French foreign ministry marks the latest in growing tension stemming from the move. Rubio has previously condemned France’s decision, calling it “reckless.”<\/p>\n “The United States strongly rejects @EmmanuelMacron\u2019s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the @UN general assembly,” Rubio wrote<\/a> on X at the time. “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”<\/p>\n Rubio doubled down on his criticism of France’s decision to recognize Palestine in comments earlier this week.<\/p>\n