Turkey signals continued support for Hamas with high-level meeting
Jul 04, 2025
Mr Rubio told the Catholic Eternal Word TV network: “Talks with Hamas fell apart on the day Macron made the unilateral decision that he’s going to recognise the Palestinian state.”
On July 24, France said it would recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, becoming the first G7 country or member of the UN Security Council to do so.
Mr Rubio at the time said the US “strongly rejects” the “reckless” decision and called it a “slap in the face” to the victims of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct 7 2023.
Also on July 24, Israel withdrew its negotiations from the Doha talks after receiving Hamas’s latest response to its ceasefire proposal, bringing to an end the longest round of negotiations since the war started.
Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, announced the return of US negotiators, saying Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”.Following France’s announcement, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain would recognise Palestine in September unless Israel made peace in Gaza, which Israel condemned as a “reward for Hamas”.
Canada also pledged to recognise Palestinian statehood and several other Western countries indicating they were considering following suit. Most UN members already recognise the State of Palestine.
On Friday, Mr Rubio accused such countries of offering Hamas a chance to claim victory.
He said: “And then you have other people come forward, other countries say: ‘Well, if there is not a ceasefire by September, we’re going to recognise a Palestinian state.’ If I’m Hamas, I’d basically conclude: ‘Let’s not do a ceasefire, we can be rewarded, we can claim it as a victory.’
“So those messages, while largely symbolic in their minds, actually have made it harder to get peace and harder to achieve a deal with Hamas. [Hamas] feel emboldened.”
