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As he arrived in the United Kingdom for his first state visit by a European leader since Brexit, French President Emmanuel Macron demanded that the UK support the state of Palestine and aid the country’s defense.

Macron praised the resumption of closer ties between France and the UK in a comparatively rare speech to both chambers of the British parliament on Tuesday, saying that the two nations must work together to end “excessive dependencies” between the US and China.

King Charles III was at the president’s three-day visit. Prior to their arrival at Windsor Castle in horse-drawn carriages, the royal family welcomed her, including Prince William, the heir-to-the-throne, and his wife, Princess Catherine.

Macron then addressed parliament, claiming that in addition to strengthening Europe, the two nations must work together to improve the environment, climate, and defense.

The French president remarked in English that “our alliance can make all the difference.” “The United Kingdom and France must once again demonstrate to the world that our alliance can make a difference. “We will go hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, because that is the only way to deal with the challenges we face, the challenges of our time,” he said.

Macron also vowed to support an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and that the European countries would “never abandon Ukraine” in its fight against ingratiating Russian forces.

He then urged the UK to work with France to recognize a Palestinian state, calling it “the only way to peace.”

The perspective of a Palestinian state has never been in danger, Macron said, adding that with Gaza in disrepair and the West Bank being attacked daily. The only way to bring peace and stability to everyone in the entire region is because of the two states’ agreement and their recognition of the State of Palestine.

He cited the geopolitical dangers that France and the UK face, and argued that they should be wary of the “excessive dependencies of both the US and China,” arguing that they needed to “de-risk our economies and our societies from this dual dependency.”

Macron continued, citing the benefits of a closer union, calling for closer integration of students, researchers, and artists, as well as efforts to collaborate on artificial intelligence and online protection for children.

Following the strained relationship between London and its exit from the European Union, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party sought to improve relations with them.

Entente Amicale

With 160 guests including politicians, diplomats, celebrities like Mick Jagger and Elton John, King Charles hosted a banquet for the Macrons at Windsor Castle later that evening.

Charles promoted the “entente cordiale” – an alliance dating from 1904 that ended centuries of military rivalries to an “entente amicale” during his speech at the lavish state banquet.

“Permit me to offer a toast to France and our new entente as we dine in this ancient restaurant, which is rich with our shared history. The king remarked, “An entente, both past and present, as well as for the future, and not just cordiale but now amicale.”

The UK and France announced that EDF, a French company that manages nuclear energy, would invest 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in an eastern England nuclear power project as part of their three-day visit.

In exchange for London loaning Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures, the two also announced that France would lend the UK the Bayeux Tapestry, which would allow the 11th-century masterpiece to return for the first time in more than 900 years.

On Wednesday, Macron will meet with Starmer to discuss migration, defense, and investment.

In the event of a ceasefire with Russia, the UK and France have been working closely together to build a planned military force to support Ukraine despite tensions over post-Brexit ties and how to stop asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The two leaders will call in to a coalition meeting on Thursday to talk about increasing Ukraine support and putting pressure on Russia, Starmer’s office confirmed on Monday.

According to the French presidency, they will speak with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Foreign Secretary Friedrich Merz, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Starmer hopes that with the UK’s support for Ukraine, which will allow London to try out a new policy regarding preventing people smuggling, it will be easier for Macron to get rid of the problem of people smuggling.

In exchange for another person with a legitimate case of being in the country, the UK would deport one asylum seeker to France. In the first six months of this year, there were a record number of asylum seekers crossing small boats into the UK. Starmer is under pressure to come up with a solution because his party is currently polling close to Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party.

United States President Donald Trump has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for a second time in 24 hours to discuss a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The unscheduled talks on Tuesday evening lasted just over an hour, with no media access.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said he would be speaking with Netanyahu “almost exclusively” about Gaza.

“We gotta get that solved. Gaza is… it’s a tragedy, and he wants to get it solved, and I want to get it solved, and I think the other side wants to,” he said.

The two men had also met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during Netanyahu’s third visit to the US since the president began his second term on January 20.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the latest meeting was “tightly sealed with very little information coming out”.

“The fact that it was so hermetically sealed, the fact that there has been no clear readout of exactly what was discussed, the fact that the meeting lasted just over an hour before the prime minister returned to his residence – all of it may indicate that there’s some kind of stumbling block, something that is clouding the optimistic position that the two leaders have adopted over the past 24 hours,” Hanna said.

Shortly before the unscheduled meeting, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four, and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.

“We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we’ll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released,” Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump’s Cabinet.

But Netanyahu, meeting with the speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, said Israel’s campaign in the Palestinian enclave was not done and that negotiators are “certainly working” on a ceasefire.

“We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’s military and government capabilities,” the Israeli leader said.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Jordan, said Israeli media are reporting that Netanyahu is facing “extreme pressure” to reach a deal on Gaza.

“But still, there’s been no breakthrough,” she said from the Jordanian capital, Amman.

“Israeli media is also talking about a delay in the travel plans of Witkoff to Doha, although earlier in the night, he had sounded very optimistic about possibly reaching a deal. Because according to him, only one issue remained problematic – which is, ‘Where will the Israeli army redeploy to?’” Odeh said.

“Now, this is important, because Israel wants to maintain control over the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. According to the Israeli minister of defence, Israel plans to build a tent city in Rafah, where it will concentrate the population, control who enters, not allow anyone to leave, and then push the population out of Gaza to implement, according to the Israelis, the Trump plan of depopulating Gaza and taking over the enclave,” she added.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 57,575 Palestinians and wounded 136,879 others. Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the war, and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

Some 50 captives remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Trump has strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticising prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges, which Netanyahu denies.