French Senate
French SenateReuters

France's upper house of parliament on Thursday urged the government to recognize "the state of Palestine", following a similar and highly symbolic vote in the lower house.

The Senate resolution, calling for French recognition of" Palestine" and an "immediate restarting" of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, passed narrowly, with 153 votes in favor and 146 against.

The vote came as European countries seek to restart the stalled Middle East process and followed an unopposed motion in the Irish parliament to recognize "Palestine" - the fourth assembly in Europe to do so.

Lawmakers in Britain and Spain have already passed similar motions and Sweden has gone even further, officially recognizing "Palestine" as a state, in a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

Earlier this month, French MPs voted 339 to 151 in favor of a motion urging the government to recognize the "state of Palestine" as a way of achieving a "definitive resolution of the conflict."

The vote drew a swift and angry response from Israel, which said it would send the "wrong message" to the region and would be counterproductive to the drive towards peace.

Neither vote is binding on French government policy.

However, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said Paris would recognize "Palestine" if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years.

The vote came amid a fresh spike in tensions in the region, as thousands of Palestinians gathered to mourn a senior official who died in a confrontation with Israeli troops.

The Palestinian leadership has blamed Israel for the "killing" of 55-year-old senior official Ziad Abu Ein, who in fact died of a heart attack, as tensions threatened to boil over into another round of violence in Judea and Samaria.

AFP contributed to this report.