The UK, Australia, and Canada all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday ahead of the one-day summit to rally support for a two-state solution, at the United Nations.
The summit will be hosted by France and Saudi Arabia and focus on Israel's war in Gaza. The event will be opened by French President Emmanuel Macron and a video adress will be made by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
More countries, including France, are expected to join the list in recognising the Palestinian state during the summit.
The summit is expected to expand on the New York Declaration that was adopted earlier this month after a conference held by France and Saudi Arabia. The US and Israel boycotted the meetings. The declaration stated that they would “support the deployment of a temporary international stabilisation mission upon invitation by the Palestinian Authority and under the aegis of the United Nations and in line with UN principles.”
France's draft proposal for the 'International Stabilisation Mission'
Meanwhile, France has prepared a draft of an “International Stabilisation Mission” initiative which expands on the scope of the declaration, according to a report obtained by the Times of Israel.
The mission would work on replacing the IDF in Gaza and work to disarm Hamas after the war ends. The proposal also aims to implement the the declaration for a two-state solution and transfer the internal security in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.
Several states like Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are named as preffered candidates to lead the transitional force.
The draft “outlines a pragmatic pathway to deploy—in a short timeframe—a UN-mandated, regionally-led temporary stabilization mission in Palestine as provided for in the New York Declaration, once the environment is sufficiently permissive.”
The force could ideally take the form of a United Nations peacekeeping operation (PKO) or a special political mission (SPM), which would be internationally legitimate and operate under a clear set of principles. The mission would be funded by voluntary donors, such as Gulf countries, through a dedicated trust fund.
The proposal also suggests that the mission could be deployed before an end to the war in Gaza, but says that securing a ceasefire agreement ahead of time is “most preferable.”
The stabilization mission is also to assist preparations for Palestinian elections across Gaza and the West Bank and coordinate reconstruction efforts in the Strip. The force would, however, be deployed only in Gaza and the proposal warns of a seperation between the two regions in the long term if its limited to the single region. The move to send forces to the West Bank is “subject to political agreement and operational feasibility, given sensitive issues such as settler violence and the presence of Israeli forces,” the proposal says.
The Times of Israel pointed out that the draft proposal only contained a single mention of Israel and the failure of the initiative to consider the country and the IDF possibly being a roadblock for the implementation of the plan.
Israel's response
Meanwhile, on the summit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “It will not happen,” he said. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon described the event as a “circus,” and called the move a “reward to terrorism.” Israeli media reported that Netanyahu could possibly annex parts of the West Bank in response and take specific bilateral measures against France.