Dozens Of Diplomats Gather In Paris For Israel-Palestinian Peace Talks

Foreign Ministers and other diplomats from some 70 different countries have descended on Paris, with the intent to renew peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The summit, which opened Sunday without leaders from either side of the conflict, is expected to urge the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, in his opening remarks to top envoys at the conference.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to attend, decrying the conference as biased against Israel from the outset.

"It's a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances," he said Thursday, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

French President Francois Hollande will be addressing the diplomatic gathering, which includes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is making his final international visits in that role.

"Sunday's meeting marks the bitter, disappointing end of eight years of failed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy," NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports for our Newscast unit. "But he's participating to try to ensure America's continued interest in a two-state solution is preserved."

The U.S. State Department has said he is attending to make sure that "whatever happens in this conference is constructive and balanced," the BBC reports.

It also may be meant as a message to Kerry's successors, the diplomatic team of President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to be inaugurated Friday. Trump has given indications that he is supportive of settlements Israelis have established in land the country captured in 1967, which have been central point of contention in peace negotiations.

Last month, Kerry delivered a speech condemning Jewish settlements in the West Bank and affirming his own support for a two-state solution. The United States also declined to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution critical of Jewish settlement activity.

Trump's incoming administration is expected to adopt a decidedly different tack, however. The man he has picked to be the next ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has said he hopes to serve his position from a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem — a city in which both sides have lain claims. That move would be seen as a de facto recognition of the city as Israeli's capital.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has warned against such a move, saying Saturday that relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would cause peace prospects to suffer.

Yet statements like these from Trump and his proposed team have encouraged Netanyahu, who referred to them in his comments condemning Sunday's conference.

"It's a relic of the past," Netanyahu said. "It's a last gasp of the past before the future sets in."

Representatives from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are attending the gathering, which will also urge both sides to avoid taking "unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations," according to the BBC.

Skepticism persists that anything will come of Sunday's summit, given the absence of leaders from both sides. But, as Ayrault said in his address, the goal of the French hosts is to make a first step toward reopening peace talks, even if it's a small one.

"The parties are very, very far apart," Ayrault said, "and the goal is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table."</s>Israel-Palestine: from Paris a renewed commitment to peace and two States 



 Over 70 countries, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Arab League attended the meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas absent. The final communique result of long negotiations between the parties. No direct reference to unresolved issues, including the status of Jerusalem and the US embassy move.

 

 Paris (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An appeal to Israel and Palestine to renew their "commitment" to a peace agreement in the Middle East "in view of the two states" solution and an invitation to both countries to "avoid" unilateral actions, they can "affect" the outcome of negotiations. With attention to three particular elements: borders, the status of Jerusalem and the issue concerning refugees. This is, in summary, the contents of the final communiqué issued at the end of the international conference on peace in the Middle East, which was held yesterday in Paris, France, on the initiative of President Francois Hollande. The meeting was attended by leaders of over 70 countries, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the leaders of the Arab League. At the conclusion of those present, except for the United Kingdom, signed the joint statement. London expressed "strong reservations" about a peace conference organized a few days from the change in US leadership [the oath of Donald Trump is scheduled on January 20] and at which, among other things, the stakeholders were not even present. Indeed the absence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen from the Parisian meeting stood out. The final document of the Conference was the subject of lengthy negotiations between the parties. In the end the line of not addressing the details of the problems prevailed, instead referring only to the outstanding issues and guidelines to address and resolve them. In particular, there were no direct references to the construction of new settlements by Israel in the Palestinian territory. Another central issue that was not addressed was the decision of neo US President Trump to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A move that has met the appreciation of the leaders of Israel and sparked strong protests among Palestinians. On the eve of the conference (an initiative appreciated by the Palestinians), Netanyahu spoke of a "useless" meeting agreed by Palestinian and French "trying to impose conditions that are irreconcilable with the national interests on Israel." He spoke of a meeting that "reflects the last gasps of yesterday’s world," and tomorrow "will have another look." A reference, not too veiled, to the change of leadership in Washington. For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the international meeting in Paris, which "reaffirms the principles of law and international resolutions" for the birth of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital. The conference in the French capital comes at a time of high tensions between Israel and Palestine, which has repeatedly resulted in serious incidents of violence sparked by last month’s UN resolution - approved by the outgoing US administration - which denounced the expansion of settlements activities promoted by Israel. 

 

 



 Israel-Palestine: from Paris a renewed commitment to peace and two States Middle East Israel Palestine 

 Over 70 countries, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Arab League attended the meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas absent. The final communique result of long negotiations between the parties. No direct reference to unresolved issues, including the status of Jerusalem and the US embassy move.

 

 

 

 











 

 21/09/2007 

Usa, Palestine and Israel, “concrete” commitment to the Washington peace conference 

This was the US Secretary of States comments following a meeting with Abu Mazen. Rice urges the Palestinians and Israelis to find an accord head f the Middle East conference set for November. No clarification however on progress in negotiations of key issues such as : borders, refugees and Jerusalem.



 03/10/2007 

Difficult prospective for today’s meeting between Abbas and Olmert 

For the first time the two leaders will be accompanied by their negotiating teams who must elaborate the common declaration to bring to the US peace conference. But the Israelis and Palestinians have diverging, if not opposing points of view.



 14/01/2017 14:40:00 

Pope Francis meets with Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian Embassy to the Holy See is inaugurated 

 The 20-minute meeting was held in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. For Abbas, the pontiff "loves the Palestinian people and loves peace." He hopes that other countries will follow the Holy See and recognise Palestine as "an independent state." Concerns remain over the Holy Places. The Middle East Peace Conference starts tomorrow in Paris. Abbas criticises Trump for his statements on Jerusalem. 



 06/07/2016 12:25:00 

Activists and international community against 800 new Israeli settlements homes 

 Israeli plans to build hundreds of new homes in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. US State department: "latest step... in a systematic process of land seizures”. Peace Now: Settlement construction is endangering both the possibility for peace; it will not prevent the next victims but rather strengthen the extremists on both sides. 



 20/11/2007 

Abbas obtains the release of 441 Palestinians but no joint document from Olmert 

Negotiations for a joint document to present at the Annapolis conference fails, attention now turns to the question of Arab nations and their level of participation. Arab League due to meet in Cairo Friday.</s>ROME (JTA) – Pope Francis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for renewed direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority during a meeting at the Vatican.

Abbas warned against moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, telling reporters: “If this is the decision, to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem, it will not help peace and we hope it doesn’t happen.”

The meeting Saturday at the Vatican took place a day before Sunday’s international peace conference in Paris on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The pope hosted Abbas at a private audience ahead of the official inauguration of a Palestinian embassy to the Holy See.

The Vatican recognized Palestine as a state in 2015.

The Vatican said in a statement that the discussions between the Pope and Abbas were “cordial.”

“Hope was expressed that direct negotiations between the parties may be resumed to bring an end to the violence that causes unacceptable suffering to civilian populations, and to find a just and lasting solution,” the Vatican statement said.

The statement also said: “it is hoped that, with the support of the international community, measures can be taken that favor mutual trust and contribute to creating a climate that permits courageous decisions to be made in favor of peace.” It added, “Emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the Holy Places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions.”

In a separate statement, Abbas called Jerusalem “the capital of the State of Palestine,” and said that he and the pope had also reaffirmed their “support for Jerusalem being an open city.”</s>PARIS (CNN) — An international peace conference aimed at bringing a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict opened in Paris Sunday.

While it is being attended by some 70 countries, neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials were present, while the incoming administration of the White House was also absent.

The conference, which was welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to meet Pope Francis at the Holy See on Saturday, was dismissed as “rigged” by Israeli PrIme Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The talks, hosted by France, are aimed at bringing both sides back to some level of negotiations with the last round of talks collapsing in 2014.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, told delegates, “there is no time to lose” over a solution.

“It is not the time to stop, the emergency remains,” he said.

“The parties remain very distanced in a relationship of defiance, which is particularly dangerous, and no one is immune to a new explosion of violence.”

The conference comes amid rising tensions between Israeli and Palestinian leaders following December’s passing of a UN Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlement construction.

The Security Council approved the resolution with 14 votes with the US abstaining.

Israel fears the recommendations of the conference could turn into another Security Council resolution in the Obama administration’s final days in office.

Speaking at his cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu described the event in Paris as a “useless conference.”

“It is being coordinated between the French and the Palestinians,” he said.

“Its goal is to try and force terms on Israel that conflict with our national needs. Of course it pushes peace further away because it hardens the Palestinian positions and it also pushes them away from direct negotiations without preconditions.

“I must say that this conference is among the last twitches of yesterday’s world. Tomorrow’s world will be different — and it is very near.”

Netanyahu’s mention of “tomorrow’s world” could be in reference to President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to relocate the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a proposal that has caused consternation within the international community.

Abbas has written to Trump to say an embassy move would have a dire effect on any chances of peace.

He also warned in a recent speech that “any statement or position that disrupts or changes the status of Jerusalem is a red line which we will not accept.”</s>France is hosting an international conference aimed at strengthening a global commitment to a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both principal parties are skipping the event, however.

Some 70 nations, including members of the Middle East Quartet (the US, Russia, the EU, and the UN), other permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, Britain, and France), and leading Arab and European nations are attending the all-day conference in the French capital. The event was called last year by France as an initiative to reinvigorate the peace process.

However, neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority will be attending the conference, despite having been invited. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the meeting “futile,” complaining that the Europeans and the Palestinians had “rigged” it against Israeli interests.

The Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, called Israel’s position regrettable. However, despite initial expectations, he didn’t arrive in Paris on Sunday either, with Reuters sources indicating that the decision to cancel his visit had come from the French government. Abbas will reportedly meet with French President Francois Hollande sometime later, possibly in a matter of weeks.

The conference is focusing on three key areas, including helping the Palestinian economy, strengthening its civil society, and assisting in building the future Palestinian state, according to the French Foreign Ministry. The ultimate goal is not to impose a solution on Israel or the PA, but rather help them to reengage in direct negotiations, Paris explained.

“There is no time to waste,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told delegates at the opening ceremony, adding “we are not sheltered from an explosion of violence.”

The conference comes at a moment of increased tensions in the Middle East. Israel was outraged when the US abstained from vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that calls for halting the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Consecutive right-wing governments under Netanyahu have brushed aside criticisms of the settlement building and continued to take more land from the Palestinians. The PA sees this practice as an obstacle to direct talks.

The passage of the resolution, and a subsequent speech that US Secretary of State John Kerry gave on his vision for a solution of the decades-old crisis, have underscored years of strained relations between Israel and the Obama administration.

President-elect Donald Trump, who is to be sworn in less than a week after the Paris conference, has indicated that his administration will be more supportive of Israeli interests. He has also indicated that he will move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, practically enshrining it as an exclusively Israeli capital. The suggestion has been strongly rejected by the Palestinians.

READ MORE: Senate bill proposes cutting funding to UN over Israeli settlement resolution



The gathering in the French capital is seen by many as a message to Trump not to undermine the proposed two-state solution, which would see Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

A draft communique sent to media outlets ahead of the conference also calls on Israel and the PA to disavow officials in their governments who reject the two-state solution.</s>VATICAN CITY — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas heads into a meeting Saturday with Pope Francis as he rallies international support ahead of this weekend's Paris peace summit.

Among other things, Abbas is expected to raise with Francis the Palestinian concern about a possible move of the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Palestinians strongly oppose the move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city.

The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character. It was unclear if the Vatican would want to wade into the issue by mentioning Jerusalem in its post-audience communique.

After the papal meeting, Abbas will open an embassy of his own: The Palestinian embassy to the Holy See, fruit of recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the "Palestinian state."

On Sunday, France is hosting more than 70 countries at a Mideast peace summit that marks the final chance for the Obama administration to lay out its positions for the region. No tangible progress is expected.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump hasn't yet laid out a clear policy for the regionnwin, but has he will be more sympathetic to Israel's hard-line right than previous administrations. He has also vowed to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Abbas has written to Trump warning of the risks of such a move and asked him to reconsider, while also flagging the concern to Arab and other world leaders, said the Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad Malki.

"The president will raise this issue with the pope on Saturday in the Vatican," he told The Associated Press.</s>An international peace conference involving more than 40 foreign ministers and senior diplomats from 75 countries began in Paris on Sunday morning, aimed at renewing efforts to resolve the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the two-state solution.

The Paris conference has been welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, while the Israeli government has boycotted the summit for its exclusion of Palestinian and Israeli officials, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting ‘bilateral negotiations’ were the only viable option for peace talks.

The Israeli prime minister has also referred to the conference as “Palestinian deceitfulness under French auspices, aimed at adopting further anti-Israeli positions.”

However, French President Francois Hollande assured on Thursday that the conference would not aim to replace bilateral negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault opened the conference saying there was no other solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict than the two-state solution. “Today we need to say that there is no solution other than the two-state solution and see how we can contribute to relaunch of peace talks,” reporters quoted him as saying. “The goal is to put an end to this conflict so that this region can live in peace and prosperity.”

He reportedly also thanked US Secretary of State John Kerry for his “tireless efforts to promote the peace process,” after Kerry recently gave a blistering speech condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The summit is being held weeks after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution reaffirming all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory were illegal under international law.

“UN Resolution 2334 reaffirmed the need for the two-state solution. Now is not the time to stop,” Ayrault reportedly said in his opening remarks.

 The conference is notably taking place days before the inauguration of US President-Elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, with French diplomats reportedly saying the timing was an intentional move to send a message to Trump about the importance of resolving the conflict.

Palestinian daily al-Ayam meanwhile published what it said was a final draft resolution for the Paris Conference, which reportedly called for an end to Israel’s illegal occupation that began in 1967, and said that states participating in the conference would agree not to recognize any borders that were not reached through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians — including in Jerusalem.</s>Fearing a new eruption of violence in the Middle East, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to push for renewed peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state.

The conference is meant to be a forceful message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that much of the world wants peace and sees a two-state solution as the best way to achieve it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in opening the conference, calling it "more indispensable than ever" to solve the protracted conflict.

Netanyahu has snubbed Sunday's conference as "rigged" against Israel, and Trump's incoming administration isn't taking part.

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The gathering is an "empty summit" that was cooked up behind Israel's back and is designed to force conditions on the country that are against its national interests, Netanyahu said.

French diplomats fear Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.

"Both parties are very far apart and their relationship is one of distrust — a particularly dangerous situation," Ayrault said at the conference. "Our collective responsibility is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. We know it is difficult, but is there an alternative? No, there isn't."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris defending American interests at the conference, in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office. It marks the end of eight years of failed U.S. efforts at Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

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Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marks the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to Trump's incoming administration.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."

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It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

The final conference declaration also may warn Trump against moving the embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known famous French Nazi hunter, said. "If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly."

The demonstrators loudly booed French lawmaker Pierre Lellouche when he took the podium and declared himself in favor of a "two-state solution" and the halting of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Ariel Goldmann, president of the French Jewish association Fonds Social Juif Unifié, called the gathering a "mockery of dialogue, a mockery of peace, a historical mockery." Goldmann said he was "sad that France is lending itself to such a maneuver."</s>Paris, France - A French-led effort to kick-start long-stalled discussions on a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israelis got under way with the two main players absent from the summit.

Though representatives from 70 countries and organisations arrived, hopes of a breakthrough in the stagnant peace process were low on Sunday without any representatives from either the Palestinian Authority or Israeli government at the "Conference for Peace in the Middle East" held in France's capital, Paris.

"We are all aware of the need to mobilise to re-start the peace process," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the delegates.

"I'm fully aware of the reservations surrounding this conference and doubts about whether it should be held at this time. But there is no time to be lost."

READ MORE: Israel and Palestinians squabble over Paris conference

It is the second such meeting organised by the government of President Francois Hollande after a first in June, which was attended by more than 20 nations and groups.

"Mobilisation has constantly grown since the 3rd of June. This has already delivered some significant results," said Ayrault.

"The two-state solution has been forcefully re-submitted. Now is definitely not the time to stop. The parties are very, very far apart, and the goal is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had balked at attending the conference, saying it "pushes peace backwards".

"It's a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians, under French auspices, to adopt additional anti-Israel stances," Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also absent. He formally opened an embassy of Palestine at the Vatican City on Saturday.

OPINION: The UN settlement resolution is too little, too late

The one-day Paris conference will focus on economic incentives, efforts by civil society groups, and "capacity building" for a future Palestinian state.

But it was met with widespread scepticism.

"The only interesting thing will be whether Hollande in his speech today brings back the idea of recognising a Palestinian state, but I don't think he will," Alain Gresh, a journalist with Le Monde Diplomatique, told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said that while hopes for a revitalised peace process were low, the sheer number of participants at the conference on Sunday was noteworthy.

"We are expecting at the end of the day for the 70 countries here to pledge their commitment to a two-state solution, and call on both sides to stop ongoing violence," Butler said.

The conference comes amid a sustained period of bloodshed. Last week, a Palestinian attacker rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers, killing four and wounding more than a dozen in Jerusalem.

The assailant was shot dead by Israeli troops.

Since October 2015, 247 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national have been killed in a wave of violence, according to an AFP news agency count.

While a rare and recent UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories has raised optimism, the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States has raised concerns about peace prospects.

Trump has nominated a pro-settlement American as his ambassador to Israel and suggested the US embassy could be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in what would be a highly contentious decision.</s>France invited Israel to partake in a Middle East peace conference to be held later this year in Paris. Israel has formally rejected the invitation.

Peace talks in 2014 between Israel and Palestine failed to bring any significant changes, so France’s proposed conference aimed to bring both sides together to discuss negotiations. However, Israel believes that France’s proposal is only a digression. Israel has long held the belief that direct negotiations with Palestine are the only way to engage with the conflict, and views the Paris conference as a “distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the Palestinians,” according to NBC News.

“[Israel] told the French envoy in a clear and unequivocal manner that Israel’s position to promote the peace process and reach an agreement will only come through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement to NBC News.

The potential of a conference is not the only thing holding back peace negotiations between the two regions. Palestine has insisted that peace talks will not resume until Israel ceases building settlements on Palestinian land. The Palestinians want to use this land for an independent state, but Israel refuses to stop construction. Settlements are Jewish communities from the West Bank territory. In the past, settlements have often inhibited peace, which is still the case in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestine also requests the release of prisoners, another demand that Israel is denying. In turn, Israel wants the Palestinians to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol.

The battles over land do not seem to be decreasing, and some analysts claim that the conflict will never be resolved. It is unclear how Israeli and Palestinian states can be established as separate without a legal agreement to officially separate the land.

The United States backed the 2014 peace talks, but these negotiations failed to present any immediate solutions. Furthermore, the Palestinian government rejected President Mahmoud Abbas’ legitimacy, and would not allow him to negotiate representing Palestine.

In addition, Israel was less than pleased with the new Palestinian Unity Government. President Abbas united two separate governments and was not approved by the Legislative Council. This illegal government caused strain between the two parties, and they remained hostile with each other. This unity government resigned in 2015 and resulted in a reorganization of the Palestinian government system.

Thus, negotiations ceased, and now attempts are being made to continue talks of peace.

France has continuously attempted to revive the peace talks. Earlier in 2016, France held a conference with the United Nations, United States, and some Arab countries to try to resolve the conflict without having representatives from either Israel or Palestine. The goal of this preliminary conference was to discuss major peace proposals and prepare for another conference later this year.

The French foreign ministry continues its plan to hold a conference by year’s end, yet there has not yet been an official comment from French envoy Pierre Vimont regarding Israel’s refusal to attend. Palestine has agreed to attend if the conference is held.
A summit begins in Paris, France, to restart peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine in an effort to discuss a possible two-state solution to the conflict. However, neither Israel nor Palestine sent representatives to the summit, casting doubts on a breakthrough.