Saudi Arabia and France have launched a critical three-day conference at the United Nations. Their aim should be to join with the overwhelming Democratic grassroots to restore Palestinian statehood and begin negotiating an end to the bloody, full-scale war in Gaza. Our annual Getting to Zero Conference got started on Monday. These statements were made just days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would officially recognize the Palestinian government in September, underlining the need to urgently reinvigorate peace negotiations leading to a two-state solution.
The war in Gaza has caused immense suffering through a humanitarian crisis that has exacerbated the circumstances of millions impacted by this violent conflict. The situation has prompted Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to announce the kingdom’s pursuit of World Bank approval for a $300 million aid transfer to Gaza and the West Bank. This new financial support is both welcome and necessary, in light of the growing global focus on this terrible humanitarian situation.
Meanwhile, British Labour leader Keir Starmer will be calling his shadow cabinet to hold an emergency meeting this week. This is supposed to be their big response to the ongoing crisis. Sources within the government have indicated that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood is not a matter of “if,” but “when,” highlighting the Labour government’s commitment to addressing the Gaza crisis.
Meanwhile, as an indication of the United States’ dissatisfaction, the U.S. has labeled the conference “unproductive and ill-timed.” Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson for the U.S., criticized the event, stating, “The United States will not participate in this insult but will continue to lead real-world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried Macron’s announcement and blasted the Saudi-French-led effort at a peace conference. He claimed that acknowledging Palestinian statehood would “reward terror.” He claimed that a Palestinian state would turn into a “launchpad to destroy Israel.” Amid these tensions, two prominent Israeli human rights organizations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
More than 220 MPs in the UK have already joined the fight by signing a letter. They’re calling on Starmer to recognize a Palestinian state in light of the current crisis. Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign minister, states that there is strong support for this notion on the European side. He asserts that this state must be created on the frontiers defined in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He reiterated that the deepest desires of both Israelis and Palestinians can never be met through violence, and only a political, two-state solution would best serve their needs.
“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,” – Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The conference is intended to galvanise support from other European countries for Palestinian statehood recognition. Barrot stated, “Our focus remains on serious diplomacy: not stage-managed conferences designed to manufacture the appearance of relevance,” referencing criticisms of the conference format.
As negotiations continue to unfold, Starmer will undoubtedly need to confront Donald Trump’s stance on humanitarian assistance. Fears of malnourishment and starvation in Gaza are rising by the hour. He was prescient about the need for global cooperation to mobilize and deploy that aid. He reiterated that this should mean leaning on Israel, due to the appalling humanitarian situation.