ISTANBUL

France's outgoing foreign minister said on Friday that the Palestinian state is the "only solution" to bring peace to the region.

"I say that there will be a Palestinian state because it is the only solution likely to bring peace and stability to the region, because it is the only alternative to a permanent state of war," Jean-Noel Barrot told broadcaster France Inter.

Pointing to Israel's failure to uphold its human rights obligations, he reiterated their willingness to increase pressure on the Israeli government.

"What is happening in Gaza, the famine, what is happening in the West Bank, the colonization, the financial blockade on the Palestinian Authority, all of that is unacceptable. We must increase pressure on the Israeli government, not on the people but on the Israeli government," Barrot underscored.

His statement came after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the signing of an agreement on Thursday to expand settlements under the so-called E1 plan, aiming to split the occupied West Bank into two parts.

Addressing a press conference in the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, Netanyahu said he had signed the agreement with the heads of several settlement councils near the city to expand them under the plan.

The project, which envisions the construction of thousands of settler units in Ma'ale Adumim, and surrounding areas, aims to split the West Bank into two parts, severing connections between its northern and southern cities and isolating East Jerusalem.

Palestinians warn that the project is part of Netanyahu’s vision for a “Greater Israel,” warning that it would entrench the occupation and eliminate the viability of a Palestinian state.

France to summon Russian ambassador on Friday

Barrot also revealed the Foreign Ministry's plans to summon the Russian ambassador on Friday morning following drone incursions into Poland, to indicate that they "will not be intimidated," and to urge Russia to stop "testing" and "trying to intimidate" Europe.

"These incursions are absolutely unacceptable. This is not new. It is a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate us, to test us," he noted.

Barrot further stressed that Russia would be making a "gross mistake" to think that Europeans and NATO allies are not united.

Poland said on Wednesday that its airspace was violated by drones amid overnight airstrikes between Russia and Ukraine, defining the incursion as an “act of aggression.”

Tusk defined the drones as “Russian,” with authorities initially recording 19 airspace violations.

The Russian Defense Ministry denied any intention to strike targets on Polish territory during the attacks, which it claimed targeted enterprises of Kyiv’s military-industrial complex in western Ukraine.

It also expressed Moscow’s readiness to discuss the incident with officials from Warsaw.​​​​​​​