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Delegate urges immediate cease‑fire, release of hostages and two‑state solution at international conference
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Summary
An unnamed delegate at an international conference convened by France and Saudi Arabia called for an immediate and permanent cease‑fire in Gaza, the unconditional release of hostages, and renewed international action toward a two‑state solution based on pre‑1967 lines and UN resolutions.
An unnamed delegate at an international conference convened by the government of France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Friday urged an immediate and permanent cease‑fire in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages and fresh international steps toward a two‑state solution for Israel and Palestine.
The delegate said that the only viable path out of the conflict is “a two‑state solution where two independent, sovereign, democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security with their secure and recognized borders on the basis of pre nineties 19 67 lines with Jerusalem as the capital of both states in line with international law, UN resolutions, and other relevant agreements.” The speaker welcomed recent pledges by some countries to recognize the state of Palestine and the General Assembly’s endorsement of the New York declaration.
The speaker explicitly condemned the Oct. 7 terror attacks carried out by Hamas and called for the immediate release of hostages, saying, “nothing can justify the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned.” At the same time, the delegate warned against what the speaker described as collective punishment of the Palestinian people, citing “the systematic decimation of Gaza, the starvation of the population, the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, most of them women and children, and hundreds of our own humanitarians.”
The delegate pressed that developments in the West Bank—“the relentless expansion of settlements, the creeping threat of annexation, the intensification of settler violence”—pose an existential threat to the two‑state outcome and must stop. The speaker framed statehood for Palestinians as a right, not a reward, and warned that denying statehood would bolster extremists and further isolate Israel internationally.
A second unnamed speaker interjected brief remarks of address. The conference remarks concluded with an appeal for international leadership and courage to pursue what the delegate called “irreversible progress to put an end to the legal occupation and to make good on our collective aspiration for a adherence to international law.”
