United States: France and other countries prepared to recognize a Palestinian state as the UN's centerpiece diplomatic week gets underway Monday, following a rash of Western governments in symbolicly endorsing statehood and sparking Israel's wrath. President Emmanuel Macron has indicated France will follow suit Monday as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution -- Palestinian and Israeli coexistence. He also said that he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, a precondition of opening an embassy to the Palestinian state. Some diplomats fear Israeli reprisals over the Western push to recognize a Palestinian state in order to kickstart talks on the two-state solution. - 'Erasure of Palestinian life' -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday his position that there would be no Palestinian state and vowed to accelerate the creation of new settlements.