UN Preps for June 2025 Conference on Two-State Solution
in New York. As detailed below, the main aim of the conference is to obtain recognition of a Palestinian state from UN member states. This represents a bad faith attempt by the Palestinians to circumvent the Oslo Accords, the treaty that governs their relationship with Israel. The Oslo Accords obligates them to negotiate final status issues with Israel, including borders – a prerequisite for Palestinian statehood.
Moreover, Israel’s right to security and the Palestinians’ obligations to combat terrorism are key components of the Oslo Accords, which have been completely ignored both by the ICJ in its July 19, 2024 advisory opinion and by the UN in its resolutions setting this upcoming conference and its modalities. Palestinian statehood cannot come at the expense of Israel’s right to secure borders and the safety and security of its citizens.
The international community should not indulge this Palestinian effort to achieve international recognition outside of the Oslo framework. Aside from threatening the international treaty regime, it encourages Palestinian recalcitrance by sending the message that they can achieve their goals without negotiations. Furthermore, any recognition of a Palestinian state through this conference constitutes a reward for the atrocities of October 7th and would only incentivize more Palestinian terrorism.
On September 18, 2024, the UNGA adopted resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 titled Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This was one of 17 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly against Israel in 2024 with only 6 on the entire rest of the world.
Resolution ES-10/24 endorsed the flawed July 19, 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice declaring the Israeli occupation to be unlawful under international law and demanding that Israel unilaterally withdraw from the so-called Occupied Palestinian Territory (i.e., the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza) – “Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.” Resolution ES-10/24 goes even further than the advisory opinion, setting a deadline of 12 months from the adoption of that resolution for Israel to “end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
In furtherance of that demand, resolution ES-10/24 decided to convene “an international conference under the auspices of the [General] Assembly for the implementation of the United Nations resolutions pertaining to the question of Palestine and the two-State solution…” On December 3, 2024, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/79/81 titled Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine adopted on December 3, 2024, which welcomed the decision in resolution ES-10/24 to convene that conference and sets out the modalities for the conference in an annex.
According to the modalities in the annex, the conference will be entitled High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. It will take place in June 2025 in New York, is to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, and is open to participation by all UN member states and observers, as well as UN entities. The Secretary-General and UNGA President “are encouraged to give the highest visibility to the Conference.”
The modalities state that the conference “will adopt an action-oriented outcome document” the purpose of which is to “urgently chart an irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution.”
At a February 5, 2025 meeting of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour said he planned to work with UN member states to ensure the conference achieves the “the objectives established by the International Court of Justice” which had “determined that prolonged occupation of the Palestinian Territory is unlawful and must be terminated as quickly as possible.”
On April 12, 2025, the two co-chairs, Saudi Arabia and France, held an initial briefing on the conference at UN Headquarters in New York. Saudi ambassador Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Wasel reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to a two-state solution and announced the formation of working groups to address key substantive issues. During the meeting, several delegations emphasized the importance of “tangible outcomes” from the conference, such as “recognition of the State of Palestine” and “increased support for the Palestinian government and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).”
A few days earlier, on April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that recognition of a Palestinian state was one of the goals of the conference. He indicated that France planned to recognize a Palestinian state.
https://unwatch.org/background-to-june-2025-un-conference-on-two-state-solution/