Monday, July 28, 2025

Ministers gather at UN for meeting on two-state solution, US, Israel boycott


Ministers gather at UN for meeting on two-state solution, US, Israel boycott

REUTERS



Dozens of ministers will gather at the United Nations on Monday for a delayed conference to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but the US and Israel are boycotting the event.

The 193-member UN General Assembly decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025. Hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference was postponed in June after Israel attacked Iran.

The conference aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told newspaper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday that he will also use the conference this week to push other countries to join France in recognizing a Palestinian state.


France intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said last week.


"We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on September 21," Barrot said, adding that he expected Arab countries by then to condemn Palestinian terrorists Hamas and call for their disarmament.

The US will not attend the conference at the United Nations, said a State Department spokesperson, describing it as "a gift to Hamas, which continues to reject ceasefire proposals accepted by Israel that would lead to the release of hostages and bring calm in Gaza."

The State Department spokesperson added that Washington voted against the General Assembly last year, calling for the conference, and would "not support actions that jeopardize the prospect for a long-term, peaceful resolution to the conflict."

Israel is also not taking part in the conference, "which doesn't first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostages," said Jonathan Harounoff, international spokesperson at Israel's UN mission.

The UN has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. The West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, territories gained by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring Arab states, are envisioned as the future Palestinian state.


The UN General Assembly in May last year overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." The resolution garnered 143 votes in favor and nine against.


The General Assembly vote was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the US vetoed it in the UN Security Council several weeks earlier.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A rhetorical question, from 1949 - 1967, the Arabs had control of Gaza (Egypt) and the West Bank (Jordan). No talk of a two-state solution then nothing but since the conclusion of the 6 day war. Clamoring for a two-state has reached the highest pitch ever in the Arab world and other places. So why didn't Egypt & Jordan establish a two-state solution then with East Jerusalem as the capital? They had 18 years to do so.

Anonymous said...

Nobody wants the Palestinians in their backyards because they are troublemakers !!