Agency :
France and Saudi Arabia will convene dozens of world leaders on Monday to rally support for a two-state solution, with several of them expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state – a move that could draw harsh Israeli and US responses.
Israel and the United States will boycott the summit, said Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon, describing the event as a “circus”.
“We don’t think it’s helpful. We think it’s actually rewarding terrorism,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Israel is considering annexing part of the occupied West Bank as a possible response as well as specific bilateral measures against Paris, Israeli officials have said.
The US administration has also warned of possible consequences for those who take measures against Israel, including against France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, is hosting the New York summit.
The summit, ahead of this week’s United Nations General Assembly, follows Israel’s launch of a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City and amid few prospects for a ceasefire two years after Palestinian Islamist militants Hamas attacked Israel, triggering the war in the Palestinian enclave.
Amid Israel’s intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, there is a growing sense of urgency to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever.
