File Photo: UN Summit. AFP
On 22 September, world leaders will gather at the UN headquarters in New York for a summit, sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving the long-stalled “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The UK, Canada, and Australia took a significant step for Palestinian justice on Sunday by recognising a Palestinian state, a move that has enraged Israel. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv continues to threaten Palestinian statehood by pushing formal annexation of the occupied West Bank and escalating ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
What is the two-state solution?
The two-state solution envisions independent Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side. It has been a central framework since before the UN’s founding, repeatedly endorsed in resolutions and peace talks, but remains unrealised amid Israel’s ongoing occupation and the forced displacement of Palestinians.
The UN’s 1947 partition plan divided Historic Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, Many Palestinians remember this moment as the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when Zionist militias expelled or forced over 700,000 Palestinians to flee their homes and destroyed more than 400 villages to pave way for the State of Israel. This trauma has fostered deep mistrust of international efforts, which have so far failed to secure Palestinian rights or allow refugees to return.
Later attempts at peace, including the 1991 Madrid Conference and the 1993 Oslo Accords, laid the early groundwork for negotiations but failed to resolve core issues such as settlements, refugees, and the status of Jerusalem. Today, the UN continues to support the establishment of a “viable and sovereign Palestinian State” within the pre-1967 borders.
However, Israel’s persistent policies—such as unchecked settlement expansion, military occupation in the West Bank, and the blockade and war on Gaza—have effectively destroyed any prospects for peace, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and entrenching the oppression of the Palestinian people.
The current crisis
The summit comes as Israel wages its deadliest-ever war on Gaza, where over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and 165,000 injured, mostly women and children, according to the Gazan health ministry. An Israeli blockade has also caused famine, hitting the most vulnerable — women, children, the sick, and elderly — hardest.
Israeli military strikes continue targeting Palestinian leaders abroad, while settlement expansion in the West Bank accelerates, both widely condemned under international law.
Despite these challenges, the recent “New York Declaration” adopted by the UN General Assembly calls for “just and lasting peace grounded in international law and based on the two-state solution.” It also urges Hamas to “end its role in Gaza, and handover its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.” The US and Israel opposed this declaration after boycotting the July conference that preceded it.
What to expect?
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to formally recognize the State of Palestine during the summit. Other countries joining the list of 147 UN member states that already recognize Palestine include Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and possibly New Zealand and Liechtenstein. These nations are set to make their formal announcements on Monday at the UN conference.
The summit could provide a fresh momentum for international efforts to hold Israel accountable, address systemic injustices, and push for a just resolution for Palestinians who have endured decades of displacement, occupation, and violence.
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