Hamas welcomes pro-Palestine letter from British and French diplomats

Their letter urges the governments of Britain and France to turn their recognition of the State of Palestine into concrete decisions and measures, and to work towards safeguarding the option of a political solution.

In a statement on Saturday, Naim said the signatories to the letter affirmed that “Palestine is being erased before our eyes,” which emphasized “the urgency of pursuing legal measures against Israeli war criminals based on international court rulings.”

More than 100 French and British former diplomats have recently called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.

The unprecedented joint letter dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.

Arguing that Britain and France played a key role in the formation of the modern-day Middle East and noting that both countries took the step of recognizing Palestine as a state in 2025, the diplomats contend that their countries now have a responsibility “to make common cause on the region’s fundamental fault line, equal rights for Israeli and Palestinians.”

The letter, addressed to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the British prime minister, Andy Burnham, has been signed by 52 French former diplomats and 50 British former ambassadors, many of whom served in the Middle East, in senior posts in Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Israel, Syria, Türkiye, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.