France and Saudi Arabia call for action on two-state solution at June UN conference
An upcoming UN conference presided over by Saudi Arabia and France must serve as a turning point for advancing a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
Mr Macron is expected to attend the June 17-20 conference at UN headquarters in New York, though this has not been confirmed. It remains unclear whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will attend.
'The June conference must mark a transformative milestone for the effective implementation of the two-state solution,' Anne-Claire Legendre, Mr Macron's adviser on the Middle East and North Africa, told member states during a preparatory meeting in New York.
'We must move from words to deeds. We must move from the end of the war in Gaza to an end of the conflict.'
The mandate of the conference follows a UN General Assembly resolution passed in September that endorsed an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion from July declaring Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal. The meeting aims to translate international consensus into concrete steps towards a lasting resolution to the decades-old conflict.
Ms Legendre emphasised that any road map for the region must ensure Israel's security and regional integration while addressing Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for statehood.
'We must create a robust and credible framework for the day after in Gaza,' she said. 'We must work to disarm and sideline Hamas, which should no longer be a threat to Israel, as well as to craft credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority.'
The Israeli government rejects Palestinian statehood.
Manal bint Hassan Radwan, head of the Saudi delegation, told member states that regional peace begins with recognising the state of Palestine, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a 'strategic necessity'.
'It is the only way to eliminate the space exploited by non-state actors and replace despair with a political horizon grounded in rights and sovereignty, ensuring security and dignity for all,' she said.
Mr Macron said in April that France could recognise a Palestinian state at the June conference. His statement sparked a furious backlash from Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemning it as a 'huge prize for terror".
At the time, Mr Macron expressed his intention to organise the New York conference to promote not only the recognition of a Palestinian state but also to encourage countries that have not yet done so to recognise Israel.
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