US sits on sidelines as global momentum builds for a two-state solution

Protesters hold a Palestinian flag, at Sana'a University, Yemen. EPA

Britain's announcement that it might finally recognise the State of Palestine dominated headlines this week, overshadowing a UN summit that could prove consequential in securing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's declaration that the UK would probably recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September was notable, especially given Britain's historical role in creating Israel and its 1917 Balfour Declaration endorsing the Zionist movement.

But, in a style typical of the prevaricating Labour leader, he sucked the oxygen out of his own announcement by leaving space for a U-turn if Israel somehow manages to address the humanitarian catastrophe it has engineered in Gaza.

Group of western nations ‘express willingness’ to recognise Palestinian statehood

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Meanwhile at the UN, France and Saudi Arabia this week hosted a conference aimed at generating momentum towards a two-state solution ahead of the General Assembly.

France has already said it will recognise Palestine in September – no ifs or buts – and Saudi Arabia has long pushed for Palestinian statehood and made it a condition of establishing relations with Israel.

A largely overlooked piece of news came late on Tuesday in the form of a joint declaration from France and 14 other western countries that are allies of Israel saying they have, or they would be willing to, recognise Palestinian statehood at the General Assembly.

Among them: Canada, New Zealand and Australia, none of which currently recognise Palestine. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said Canada "intends" to recognise the Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly.

We are at a tipping point, and other countries are sure to join in. If those on the list do indeed recognise the State of Palestine, it would mean that more than 150 of the UN's 193 member states recognise it - with Israel, Germany and the US among the few major nations still refusing to do so.

It is a strong statement. As my colleague Adla Massoud reported from the UN, the declaration also condemns the October 7 attacks, calls for the release of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas. Washington has vetoed several Security Council ceasefire resolutions exactly because they omitted these important aspects.

Instead of acknowledging any of this, the US chose to react with fury to France and Saudi Arabia having the temerity to host a two-state summit, calling it an "insult" and an "unproductive and ill-timed" publicity stunt. The US and Israel both boycotted the event.

"Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Israel and the US say recognising Palestine now serves only as a reward to Hamas after the October 7, 2023, attacks that saw about 1,200 people killed and some 250 kidnapped.

But such condemnation wilfully neglects the reality on the ground in Gaza, where more than 60,100 people have been killed in Israel's assault. Many more are feared to have died from less-immediate causes, such as from diseases being left untreated due to Israel's systematic destruction of the enclave's hospitals.

For all his talk of being a deal-maker and his determination to win a Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump has been unable to secure a new ceasefire in Gaza, where starvation is now claiming lives on a daily basis, and his thinking remains rigidly pro-Israel on the issue.

What seems clear to most of the world – but still not to the US – is that the pre-October 7 orthodoxy on recognising Palestine no longer holds. The promise of statehood was always dangled as a reward for a successful outcome to hypothetical talks in the future, even though Israel pushed the prospects of a two-state solution ever further out through its illegal settlements in the West Bank.

For each month that passes without international recognition of Palestine, Israel annexes more land and settlers commit more crimes. The aim is to make a Palestinian state inviable, which is why recognition now is vital.

Israel has always enjoyed broad support in the US but after nearly two years of collective punishment in Gaza, that is slipping, particularly among younger people. Another crack appeared this week when Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading voice in Mr Trump's Make America Great Again movement, said Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza.

The firebrand congresswoman has long been accused of espousing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, but her comments on Gaza could signal a turning point in the conversation among Republicans.

Something has to change and Washington's unblinking support for Israel is increasingly putting it at odds with the rest of the world, which is now seeing an opening to act without Uncle Sam's blessing.

Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip. EPA