French President Emmanuel Macron shared a letter addressed to the leader of the Palestinian Authority on Thursday, citing a need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

France has announced its intention to become the first member of the Group of Seven to recognize Palestine as a state. Ireland, Norway and Spain have already done so, breaking from a consensus within Western Europe and the US that the Palestinians should achieve statehood through negotiations with Israel.

A joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire and said that “withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable."

There are 147 UN member states out of 193 that recognise the state of Palestine - but the UK is not one of them

More than half of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The announcement by President Emmanuel Macron of his intention to recognise Palestinian statehood puts huge pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to follow suit. The French have been itching to take this step for some time.