UNITED NATIONS: France and Saudi Arabia will convene dozens of world leaders on Monday to rally support for a two-state solution, with several of them expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state - a move that could draw harsh Israeli and U.S. responses.
Israel and the United States will boycott the summit, said Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, describing the event as a “circus.”
Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday. France and five other states are expected to also formally recognise a Palestinian state on Monday.
However, not all European powers will follow suit. Italy said such a move could be “counterproductive”, while Germany said it could undermine efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution with Israel.
Israeli response may include west bank Annexation
Israel is considering annexing part of the occupied West Bank as a possible response as well as specific bilateral measures against Paris, Israeli officials have said, even though the recognitions are expected to be largely symbolic.
Annexation could backfire and alienate key countries like the United Arab Emirates, a global oil power and trade hub with wide diplomatic clout across the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates, the most prominent of the Arab states that normalised ties with Israel under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, has said such a move would undermine the spirit of the agreement.
“That is why we came on record saying that annexation is a red line for my Government because it strikes at the very heart of what the Abraham Accords were meant to achieve,“
Lana Nusseibeh, minister of state at the UAE foreign affairs ministry, told the BBC on Monday.
The U.S. administration has also warned of possible consequences for those who take measures against Israel, including against France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, is hosting the New York summit. The summit, ahead of this week's United Nations General Assembly, follows Israel's launch of a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire two years after Palestinian Islamist militants Hamas attacked Israel, triggering the war in the Palestinian enclave.
France says declaration is a rejection of Hamas
Amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, there is a growing sense of urgency to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever.
“The decision that the President of the Republic will present this afternoon to the United Nations General Assembly is a symbolic, immediate, political decision that demonstrates France’s commitment to the two-state solution,“ French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told television channel TF1.
Barrot added that the recognition of a Palestinian state is a rejection of Hamas and calls for its exclusion from any future role in the governance of Gaza. The General Assembly endorsed a seven-page declaration this month outlining “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution, while also condemning Hamas and calling it to surrender and disarm. France has driven the move, hoping that Macron’s announcement in July that he would recognise a Palestinian state would give greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel.
Some have said there would be conditions and others have said normalisation of diplomatic ties would be phased and dependent on how the Palestinian Authority advances in its promises to reform.
In Gaza, Palestinians were fleeing Israeli attacks on Gaza City on Sunday.
Displaced Palestinian Nabeel Jaber expressed doubts that recognition of a Palestinian state would bring tangible progress because no countries will push Israel enough to agree to a two-state solution.
“Even if countries such as Australia, Canada, and France —who are now among those initiating this recognition — acknowledge Palestine, I believe there will still be no serious pressure on Israel to grant the Palestinians their rights,“ he said.
Palestinians refused visas to US
In Tel Aviv, Israelis, still angered by the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, said the Palestinians turned down many chances to establish a state in the past.
“We’ve offered them peace about five times. They could have agreed to any one of those, and they never, ever chose peace. So why do we need to choose peace with people who want to kidnap, murder, rape our people? I don’t think we need to do that,“ said film student Tamara Raveh, 25. Israel has said it has no confidence in the 89-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas keeping pledges to reform and modernise as outlined in a letter to Macron earlier this year.
Abbas and dozens of Palestinian officials will not be there in person. The U.S., a staunch Israeli ally, refused to issue visas and Abbas is due to appear via video.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not attending despite co-hosting the event. The General Assembly agreed on Friday - by consensus, without a vote - that he could appear via video at Monday's meeting.
The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's ensuing campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to local health authorities. It has caused famine and displaced most of the population - often multiple times - REUTERS
