France and Saudi Arabia to lead UN push for two-state solution

France and Saudi Arabia will lead the charge starting Monday to revive the moribund push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at a UN conference in New York.

Days before the July 28-30 conference, to be co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would formally recognise the State of Palestine in September.

Paris's decision "will breathe new life into a conference that seemed destined to irrelevance", said Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"Macron's announcement changes the game. Other participants will be scrabbling to decide if they should also declare an intent to recognise Palestine."

In an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that other European countries will confirm "their intention to recognise the State of Palestine" during the conference, without detailing which ones.

France is hoping that Britain will take this step, and more than 200 British MPs on Friday pushed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to do so, but he reiterated that recognition of a Palestinian state "must be part of a wider plan".

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According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states – including France – now recognise the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.

In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states – one Jewish and the other Arab. The following year, the state of Israel was proclaimed.

For several decades, the vast majority of UN member states have supported the idea of a two-state solution, Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side peacefully and securely.

But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could be geographically impossible. 

The war in Gaza started following a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a large-scale military response that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives.

The conference is a response to the crisis, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and several dozen ministers from around the world expected to attend.

It is coming at a moment when "the prospect of a Palestinian state has never been so threatened, or so necessary", Barrot said. 

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Call for courage 

Beyond facilitating conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will have three other focusses – reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalisation of relations with Israel by Arab states that have not yet done so. 

No new normalisation deals are expected to be announced at the meeting, according to a French diplomatic source.

But "for the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament", Barrot said. 

The conference "offers a unique opportunity to transform international law and the international consensus into an achievable plan and to demonstrate resolve to end the occupation and conflict once and for all, for the benefit of all peoples", said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, calling for "courage" from participants.

Israel and the United States will not take part in the meeting, while international pressure continues to mount on Israel to end nearly two years of war in Gaza. 

Despite "tactical pauses" in some military operations announced by Israel, the humanitarian catastrophe in the ravaged coastal territory is expected to dominate speeches by representatives of more than 100 countries as they take the podium from Monday to Wednesday.

Gowan said he expected "very fierce criticism of Israel".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)