UN Palestine two-state summit in New York to open with no demands placed on Israel

An international conference on the two-state solution opens on Monday at the UN headquarters in New York, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.

Framed as a diplomatic revival effort amid Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, the event has drawn scrutiny for demanding sweeping concessions from Palestinians while making no mention, rhetorical or otherwise, of obligations on Israel, the occupying power.

Held at the level of foreign ministers, the two-day conference will be followed by a second phase involving heads of state during the UN General Assembly in September, or possibly in Paris. The summit had originally been scheduled for June but was postponed due to the Israeli war on Iran.

In an exclusive interview with The New Arab's Arabic edition, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Palestine's UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, said Ramallah places "great hope" in the event and its aftermath, including the possible recognition of the State of Palestine and "military and commercial pressure" on Israel. However, no such pressure appears to be on the table.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently pledged to recognise the State of Palestine at the September UNGA, but his offer came with a series of conditions.

In a message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Macron said Palestine must be demilitarised, recognise Israel, and contribute to regional security. Critics argue these conditions mirror the defunct Oslo framework and place all the burden on Palestinians amid what many describe as the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The French position is backed by a four-part framework or "baskets", as outlined by a senior French diplomat in New York.

The first basket is further recognition of Palestinian statehood; the second is Arab and Islamic normalisation with Israel, conditional on a viable path to statehood. The third concerns internal Palestinian governance reforms, and the fourth calls for the complete disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from political life.

Abbas is reported to have privately agreed to significant concessions, including condemning the 7 October attacks, calling for the release of all Israeli hostages, and accepting a demilitarised Palestinian state. He has also pledged to hold elections within a year (excluding Hamas), reform Palestinian Authority textbooks, and end stipends for the families of prisoners and martyrs - long-standing Israeli demands.

Despite the sweeping Palestinian commitments, neither Israel nor the US is attending the conference, which was mandated by a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2024 titled "Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine".

France and other organisers have issued no statements condemning the boycott.

In a separate interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, current UN Security Council President and Pakistani ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad described the event as "an important opportunity" to reignite diplomatic momentum.

"It could serve the goal of achieving what the Security Council has failed to achieve," he said, calling for "a political horizon for Palestine" and long-term peace in the Middle East.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, has called for the adoption of concrete measures such as targeted sanctions, an arms embargo, and the enforcement of ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

These proposals are unlikely to be reflected in the final conference statement, which remains in draft form.