Saudi Arabia and France have opened a three-day conference at the United Nations with the goal of recognising Palestinian statehood as part of a peaceful settlement to end the war in Gaza.
The conference began on Monday, just days after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Paris would officially recognise the Palestinian government in September in an effort to reinvigorate peace talks around a two-state solution that have all but been written off since the deadly Hamas raid and ensuing Israeli military operation that began in 2023.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has said that the conference would also serve as a platform for other European countries to recognise Palestinian statehood.
While Barrot did not specify which countries he meant, speculation has focused on the United Kingdom, where Keir Starmer is under increasing pressure from Labour MPs to put pressure on Israel to end the war.
“Only a political, two-state solution will help respond to the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security,” Barrot said at the opening of the talks on Monday. “There is no alternative.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said that the kingdom was seeking World Bank approval to transfer $300m to Gaza and the West Bank to counter the dire humanitarian crisis in the territory.
He said that Palestinians had a “legitimate right” to the establishment of an independent state along the borders delineated in 1967 “with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
“This is not merely a political stance, but a firm conviction that an independent Palestinian state is the true key to peace in the region,” he said.
The talks are being co-chaired by 16 other countries and delegations, including the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union.
The UK does not currently recognise Palestine, but Starmer has come under increasing pressure within Labour to help achieve a diplomatic solution. More than 220 MPs, a third of parliament, signed a letter addressed to Starmer on Friday calling for the UK to recognise a Palestinian state.
“We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality,” the MPs wrote in the letter.
Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week and government sources have said that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of “when, not if” under the Labour government.
He was also expected to push Donald Trump on the issue of humanitarian aid and a growing crisis of malnourishment and starvation in Gaza. On Monday, two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, were reported to say that Israel was committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country’s western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.
“We need to galvanize other countries in support of getting that aid in, and yes, that does involve putting pressure on Israel, because it absolutely is a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Starmer in remarks alongside the US president on Monday as the two leaders met at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland to discuss trade and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The talks begin just days after Macron said that France would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, saying that the decision would “ensure its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarisation and fully recognising Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East”.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, condemned Macron’s decision, saying that it “rewards terror” and that a Palestinian state would be a “launchpad to annihilate Israel”.
Israel also criticised the Saudi-French-led conference on Monday. “This conference does not promote a solution, but rather deepens the illusion. Instead of demanding the release of the hostages and working to dismantle Hamas’s reign of terror, the conference organizers are engaging in discussions and plenaries that are disconnected from reality,” said Danny Damon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN.