Palestinian Authority: 135 countries recognized Palestine as a state

French lawmakers attend a debate in the National Assembly in Paris

Sweden became the seventh EU member to recognize a Palestinian state

AFP – 2 December, 2014 – French lawmakers on Wednesday recognized Palestine as a state, following similar moves in Britain and Spain that reflect growing European frustration with the stalled Middle East peace process.
The text of the motion invites Paris to recognize the state of Palestine “as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict.”
Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank with east Jerusalem as the capital. With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition.
During a debate on the issue on Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stressed that Paris would recognize Palestine if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years.
France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the UN said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.
Riyad Mansour told AFP the text was set to lay out a timeframe for negotiations on a final peace deal and possibly a deadline for Palestinian statehood.
It would also pave the way for a last-ditch international conference that France has offered to host.