In a week marked by diplomatic upheaval and urgent calls for peace, President Donald Trump took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2025, to deliver a forceful condemnation of recent moves by several Western powers to recognize a Palestinian state. His remarks, delivered with characteristic bluntness, underscored the deepening rift between the United States and a growing bloc of its traditional allies over how best to address the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
The controversy erupted after France, under President Emmanuel Macron, became the first major Western nuclear power and permanent member of the U.N. Security Council from the G7 to formally recognize a Palestinian state. Macron’s declaration came during a high-profile meeting at the United Nations, co-hosted with Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving the long-stalled two-state solution. “The time has come to no longer talk about the existence of Israel — it’s self-evident. The time has come to do justice to the Palestinians, to recognize the state of Palestine,” Macron stated, adding pointedly, “We must do this to save lives,” according to Fox News.
France’s move was swiftly mirrored by the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Portugal. These nations cited mounting frustration with Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza, the growing humanitarian catastrophe, and persistent violence by settlers in the West Bank as key motivations. For many, the recognition was seen as a signal to Israel that the world’s patience with its policies was wearing thin, and that a viable Palestinian state must be part of any lasting peace in the region. The humanitarian toll is staggering: local health authorities report more than 65,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the conflict’s escalation, and a global hunger monitor warns that parts of the territory are suffering from famine, as reported by Reuters.
Yet, for President Trump, these diplomatic gestures amounted to little more than a dangerous reward for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and was responsible for the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. “As everyone knows, I have also been deeply engaged in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza. Have to get that done. You have to get it done,” Trump said at the U.N. “Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can’t forget Oct. 7, can we? Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state… this would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7.”
The president’s remarks reflected the United States’ increasingly isolated stance as Israel’s staunchest ally. Trump warned that recognizing Palestinian statehood undermines ongoing efforts to free hostages held in Gaza and risks emboldening Hamas. “Even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept the ceasefire, instead of giving to Hamas and giving so much because they’ve taken so much, they have taken so much. This could have been solved so long ago,” he argued. “Instead of giving in to Hamas as ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: release the hostages now. Just release the hostages.”
The question of hostages remains central to Trump’s position. He emphasized that the last 20 remaining hostages would be the hardest to recover, but insisted that the families of the deceased deserve the return of their loved ones’ bodies just as much as if they were alive. “Those parents came to me and they want them back… as though they were alive. They want them every bit as much as if their son or daughter were alive,” he told Fox News.
Israel’s own response to the wave of recognitions was swift and sharp. Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., warned that there would be “consequences” for nations that recognized a Palestinian state. The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly declared that there will be no Palestinian state as long as the threat from Hamas persists. In recent weeks, Netanyahu’s government launched a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City, pushing deeper into the most populated areas. According to local health authorities, Israeli fire on September 23 killed at least 22 people across Gaza, 18 of them in Gaza City, and hospitals reportedly face imminent fuel shortages, endangering countless lives.
Despite the mounting death toll and destruction, Israel and the United States boycotted the September 22 summit in New York convened by France and Saudi Arabia, where dozens of world leaders gathered in support of Palestinian statehood. The U.S. position remains clear: full U.N. membership for Palestine would require approval by the Security Council, where Washington wields a veto it has often used to shield Israel from censure.
Trump’s U.N. speech was not his only foray into the diplomatic fray this week. On September 23, he met with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan to discuss the situation in Gaza. “It was a very successful meeting with all of the big players except for Israel but that’s going to be next,” Trump told Reuters. According to Axios, the agenda included not only the urgent need to free hostages and end the war, but also U.S. proposals for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and post-war governance that would exclude Hamas. Washington is reportedly seeking commitments from Arab and Muslim countries to send military forces to Gaza, facilitating Israel’s withdrawal, and to secure funding for transition and rebuilding programs.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the meeting, described it as “very fruitful” and indicated that a joint declaration would be published. Yet, as of Tuesday evening, there was no immediate comment from the White House on the outcome of these talks.
The broader international context remains fraught. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the Security Council, backed the moves for recognition, calling it “the clearest path to a two-State solution: Israel and an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine. We must seize this momentum.” France and Britain, meanwhile, were set to host further discussions with Germany, Italy, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Canada, and Australia on a potential stabilization force for Gaza. Such a force would only be deployed after a ceasefire and would require a U.N. mandate.
Yet, the prospects for a two-state solution — long the bedrock of U.S.-backed peace efforts since the 1993 Oslo Accords — appear bleak. Israel’s current government, the most right-wing in its history, has all but declared the idea dead, even as the international community seeks new ways to revive it. A recent U.N. commission report accused the Israeli government of seeking permanent control over Gaza and ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank, citing systematic demolition of civilian infrastructure and the expansion of Israeli-controlled territory to 75% of the Gaza Strip by July 2025. The Israeli mission in Geneva dismissed these findings.
As the world’s attention remains fixed on Gaza, the diplomatic divide has never seemed wider. Whether the latest moves toward Palestinian recognition will spur progress or deepen the impasse remains to be seen. For now, the suffering in Gaza continues, and the search for a durable peace remains as elusive as ever.
