French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state is no longer taboo for France, indicating that Paris may make the decision if efforts for a two-state solution falter due to opposition from Israel.

However, unilateral French recognition will not do much to change the situation on the ground without real negotiations, but it will have a symbolic and diplomatic impact.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his opposition to Palestinian sovereignty, saying that he would not give up full Israeli security control over the west of the Jordan River, and that this conflicts with the establishment of a Palestinian state.

French lawmakers voted in 2014 to urge their government to recognize Palestine, a symbolic move that had little impact on France's diplomatic stance.

For the first time, a French leader has made such a proposal, and his statements highlight further impatience among Western leaders with the increasing human casualties in Gaza due to the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.

While standing side by side with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Paris, Macron said: “Our partners in the region, especially Jordan, are working on this, and we are working with them. We are ready to contribute to it, in Europe and in the Security Council. Recognizing a Palestinian state is not "It's taboo for us."

Macron's comments are likely aimed at increasing pressure on Israel.

The massive Israeli air and ground attack on the small, densely populated Gaza Strip led to the deaths of more than 28,000 Palestinians, the razing of built-up areas, and the leaving of most of the Strip's 2.3 million residents homeless.

While most developing countries recognize Palestine as a state, most Western European countries do not, under the pretext that an independent Palestinian state must emerge from negotiations with Israel.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said this month that part of British policy is to say that there will come a time when Britain will look to recognize a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations.

Macron warned that the Israeli attack on Rafah would only lead to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, and would be a turning point in the conflict.

(Reuters, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed)