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   session of the General Assembly by contacting the missions of Saudi   
   Arabia and France in New York,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan   
   Al-Saud told the conference on Tuesday. The 80th UN General Assembly is   
   due to start in September.   
      
   The first step outlined in the declaration is to end the 22-month war   
   between Israel and Hamas.   
      
   “Following the ceasefire, a transitional administrative committee must   
   be immediately established to operate in Gaza under the umbrella of the   
   Palestinian Authority,” it reads.   
      
   The declaration supports the deployment of a temporary international   
   stabilization mission, mandated by the UN Security Council, and welcomes   
   “the readiness expressed by some member states to contribute troops.”   
      
   It calls on Israel’s leadership to “issue a clear public commitment to   
   the Two-State Solution, including a sovereign, and viable Palestinian   
   State, to immediately end violence and incitement against Palestinians,   
   [and] to halt all settlement, land grabs and annexation activities in   
   the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem.”   
      
   The declaration commits to adopting restrictive measures against violent   
   extremist settlers and those who support illegal settlements, and   
   adopting targeted measures “against entities and individuals acting   
   against the principle of the peaceful settlement of the question of   
   Palestine, through violence or acts of terrorism, and in breach of   
   international law.”   
      
   It also describes regional integration and independent Palestinian   
   statehood as “intertwined objectives.”   
      
      
   Left image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with   
   Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at   
   the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. Right image:   
   Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, poses with newly   
   appointed PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Ramallah on March 14,   
   2024. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool via AP; PPO / AFP)   
   “Only by ending the war in Gaza, releasing all hostages, ending   
   occupation, rejecting violence and terror, realizing an independent,   
   sovereign, and democratic Palestinian State, ending the occupation of   
   all Arab territories and providing solid security guarantees for Israel   
   and Palestine, can normal relations and coexistence among the region’s   
   peoples and States be achieved,” it reads.   
      
   The declaration urges countries to recognize the state of Palestine,   
   calling this “an essential and indispensable component of the   
   achievement of the two-state solution.” Without naming Israel but   
   clearly referring to it, the document says “illegal unilateral actions   
   are posing an existential threat to the realization of the independent   
   state of Palestine.”   
      
   French President Emmanuel Macron announced ahead of the meeting that his   
   country will recognize the state of Palestine at the General Assembly’s   
   meeting of world leaders in late September.   
      
   The document was issued on the second day of the conference in New York,   
   at which Britain announced it would recognize a Palestinian state in   
   September unless Israel halts fighting in Gaza and commits to a peace   
   process that ends with a two-state solution. Planned for two days, the   
   meeting was extended into Wednesday because representatives of about 50   
   countries have not spoken.   
      
   For decades, most UN members have supported a two-state solution with   
   Israel and a future Palestinian state existing side-by-side.   
      
   But after almost 22 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of   
   Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring   
   designs to annex parts of Gaza and the West Bank, many countries fear   
   that a Palestinian state could become geographically impossible.   
      
   United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting   
   Monday: “The two-state solution is farther than ever before.”   
      
   Attendees stand during a moment of silence during a ministerial   
   high-level meeting during the United Nations conference on a two-state   
   solution for Israel and the Palestinians, at UN headquarters on July 28,   
   2025, in New York City. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)   
   A separate one-page statement titled the “New York Call” was circulated   
   by France, but the language was considered too strong, especially for   
   Arab nations. It was only approved by 15 Western nations, including six   
   that have recognized a Palestinian state and nine others: Andorra,   
   Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal and   
   San Marino.   
      
   The statement, issued late Tuesday, says the 15 countries have   
   recognized, “expressed or express the willingness or the positive   
   consideration… to recognize the state of Palestine, as an essential step   
   towards the two-state solution, and invite all countries that have not   
   done so to join this call.”   
      
   Israel, under the current government led by Netanyahu, has long rejected   
   the establishment of a Palestinian state, and has refused to entertain   
   the possibility of the PA playing any role in the future governance of Gaza.   
      
   But it has offered few details of what it envisions as an alternative to   
   the PA in postwar Gaza, beyond advocating for what it insists would be   
   the voluntary mass migration of its population.   
      
   Israel’s offensive against Hamas has killed over 60,000 Palestinians,   
   according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t   
   distinguish between civilians and terror operatives.   
      
   On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told international journalists   
   that Israel would not give in to the “distorted campaign of   
   international pressure” to end the war in Gaza and force a two-state   
   solution on Israel.   
      
   “Establishing a Palestinian state today is establishing a Hamas state. A   
   jihadist state,” said Sa’ar. “It ain’t gonna happen.”   
      
   Michael Bachner, Jacob Magid and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.   
      
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