US president Donald Trump’s administration has discouraged governments from attending a United Nations conference next week on the implementation of a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The conference will take place in New York and will be hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. It will discuss ways of establishing a two-state solution – which would create a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside Israel.
On Tuesday, Washington sent a cable warning countries that unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state and taking “anti-Israel actions” – such as sanctions and boycotts – would be seen as acting against United States interests and could yield diplomatic consequences.
The message also said the conference undermined Washington’s efforts with Egypt and Qatar to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli captives held hostage by Hamas, according to Reuters news agency.
Washington has supported a two-state solution for decades, but on Tuesday its ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it is no longer a US goal.
While the original intention of the conference was to encourage unified multi-state recognition of a Palestinian state, the Guardian has quoted French officials as saying this would be the goal of a step-by-step process to halt the Gaza war, end Hamas rule in Gaza, release Israeli hostages, secure Palestinian Authority reform and launch economic reconstruction of Gaza.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s regional adviser, Anne-Claire Legendre, said the conference “must mark a transformative milestone for the effective implementation of the two-state solution. We must move from words to deeds; we must move from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the conflict.”
Mr Macron has confirmed his attendance at the New York meeting while Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman has ordered aides to prepare for his participation if a plan is to be adopted. Other world leaders who will be in Canada for a G7 summit could also attend the UN conference.
Israel has sharply criticised the conference and lobbied France against recognition of a Palestinian state, claiming it would “reward” Hamas for the 2023 attack on Israel in which it killed 1,200 people and abducted about 250 hostages. The attack triggered the Gaza war, in which about 55,000 Palestinians have been killed.
[ Israeli strikes kill at least 60 in Gaza, many at aid site, say health officialsOpens in new window ]
Of 27 European Union member states, 11 recognise Palestine, including Ireland.
Israeli and international rights organisations have accused Israel of trying to thwart a two-state solution by illegally establishing 160 settlements which house 700,000 Israelis in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel recently announced construction of a further 22 settlements, prompting Israeli independent rights group Peace Now to say this was “the most extensive move of its kind” in three decades. It warned that the move would “dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further”. – Additional reporting: Reuters
