UN conference will test global resolve for Palestinian statehood

Saudi Arabia and France are leading this week's conference on a two-state solution

Palestinians wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. AFP

Saudi Arabia and France are set to spearhead a high-stakes conference at the UN this week, launching a bold push to forge a path towards an independent Palestinian state − a move that has already ignited a fierce backlash from Israel and the Trump administration.

This ambitious initiative aims to resurrect long-stalled peace efforts, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown over the region's future.

The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is both more threatened and more necessary than at any time since the Oslo Accords, a French diplomatic source said ahead of the conference.

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The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel deepened Israeli scepticism towards Palestinian statehood, while the subsequent war in Gaza has devastated the enclave and weakened prospects for stability, the source told reporters in New York.

Despite these challenges, the French official argued that the two-state solution remains the only viable path forward.

It is “even more necessary because there is no alternative”, the source said. “We cannot just discuss the situation in Gaza and the day after … we need to see beyond.”

French President Emmanuel Macron last week announced that France would recognise Palestine as a state. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops, and the civilian population is saved,” he said.

A mother with her malnourished 18-month-old son at Al Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza city. AFP

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told CBS News on Sunday that Paris’s diplomatic efforts are “very complementary” to Washington’s.

“In fact, we will welcome any further efforts led by the US to implement the Abraham Accord logics. And what we're doing now with this very significant conference that will take place in New York, will pave the way for such accords,” he said.

“But in the meantime, until the US administration provides, through the Abraham Accord logics, a political horizon for this crisis, we need to act in order to... create an off ramp for the catastrophe ongoing in Gaza”

The French diplomatic source indicated that no new normalisation agreements are expected to be announced during the meeting.

This week's ministerial-level conference, which was postponed in June amid the 12-day air war between Israel and Iran, will focus on Gaza's reconstruction, its governance and security, disarmament of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and normalising relations between Israel and Arab states that have not yet done so.

Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said the international community "will judge this conference on what it delivers."

"We stand ready to support the Palestinians in state-building, with human rights and rule of law at its centre. When that time comes, programmes to support victims and survivors will be an important avenue for opening a pathway to accountability and redress," he said.

China expressed its support for the UN conference on Friday, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun saying “the two-state solution remains the only viable path to resolve the Palestinian issue”.

Max Rodenbeck, Israel-Palestine project director at the International Crisis Group think tank, said that while reviving international focus on the two-state solution is “laudable”, practical steps are needed.

“Rhetorical support needs to be matched by practical steps, as the practical possibility for creating a Palestinian state on the ground has been ebbing for years, and under the current Israeli government faces stubborn hostility,” Mr Rodenbeck said.

The Palestinian flag raised for the first time in Paris, in 2011. AFP

France in September will become the third permanent member of the UN Security Council to recognise Palestine, along with Russia and China.

Currently, 147 out of 193 UN member states officially recognise the state of Palestine.

Mr Rodenbeck noted that Mr Macron’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state, even if symbolic for now, offers Palestinians “a horizon for hope”.

Pressure is intensifying on Israel to end its war in Gaza. Israel's strikes and ground offensive have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the population and laid waste to most of the enclave.

This followed the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240.

The conference takes place as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas appear to have collapsed, and as more than 100 aid agencies warned of mass starvation in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should intensify military action against Hamas to eliminate the group.

“Hamas didn't really want to make a deal, I think they want to die,” Mr Trump told journalists at the White House before a trip to Scotland, adding that it's time to “finish the job” and “get rid” of Hamas.

Mr Rodenbeck said: “It is tragic that ceasefire talks have broken down, but the more immediate tragedy – and a more solvable one – is the looming famine about to engulf Gaza.”

“Israel’s use of food as a weapon is not only disgraceful, it has clearly proved ineffective as a negotiating tactic,” he said.

The event will test international resolve to push for Palestinian statehood despite Israeli and US resistance, with Riyadh and Paris framing it as a critical step towards long-term stability.