LONDON: The “vast mobilization” of international support by Saudi Arabia and France for the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict aims to convince the US that there is an “absolute urgency” to end the war in Gaza, the French presidency said on Tuesday.
The Elysee held a high-level briefing attended by Arab News ahead of an international conference on the two-state solution at the UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 22.
The conference is the result of months of joint work between Riyadh and Paris, and follows a series of steps to legitimize the event in the international arena as the “only viable solution and option on the table in order to come out of this terrible crisis,” the French presidency said.
The idea for the conference “came as a result of the state visit that President (Emmanuel) Macron paid to Saudi Arabia” last year, the Elysee said.
“We were working with Saudi Arabia in reflecting on what kind of initiative we could jointly take in order to get a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the war and a political solution to the crisis that would lead finally to the creation of two states and bring peace and security to all people in the region.”
