[GEO.TV] A Hamas official said on Thursday that the group welcomed the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris could recognise a Palestinian state by June, hailing it as an "important step"."France, as a country with political weight and a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council, has the ability to influence the course of fair solutions and push towards ending the occupation and achieving the aspirations of the Palestinian people," Mahmud Mardawi told AFP.