The State Department said Monday it would not participate in an initiative from France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, criticizing the summit as harmful to ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.N. two-state solution conference is an “ill-advised stunt that will further embolden Hamas and undermine our serious diplomatic efforts to end the war.”
“The United States will not participate in the July UN two-state solution conference,” Bruce wrote on social platform X. “We will continue to work with partners towards a resolution.”
President Trump has held back from endorsing long-standing U.S. policy supporting a two-state solution to end the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, which aims to establish a Palestinian state in the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip while preserving Israel’s security.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades pushed policies aimed at undermining the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. During a meeting at the White House in July, Trump deferred to Netanyahu on whether the Israeli leader supports a two-state solution. Netanyahu answered that Palestinians could have self-government, but that Israel should maintain ultimate security control.
Trump for the most part sides with Netanyahu and Israel, but the president has routinely shown he will act unilaterally on policies he views are in his interest. Trump has signaled he wants to be able to take credit for establishing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh’s red line is no normalization with Israel absent a Palestinian state.
Last week, Trump dispatched his ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, to meet with Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh. Part of negotiations to end the war between Israel and Hamas is finding an alternative governing body for the strip. While the Palestinian Authority is present in the strip, it is not viewed as the most credible actor or strongest political body to exercise control.
And negotiations for a ceasefire to the war have stalled. The latest conflict began when Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. The death toll in Gaza during the conflict is around 60,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians
The Trump administration has put the blame on Hamas as being a barrier to peace, but international outrage over Israel’s demolition of the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian crisis wrought on the Palestinians has isolated Jerusalem.
Last week, French President Emanuel Macron announced that Paris would recognize a Palestinian state, a largely symbolic move but one that likely triggered alarm in Jerusalem over whether other major industrialized nations would follow suit and grant recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Trump on Monday signaled a break with Netanyahu when he acknowledged there was “real starvation” happening.
Over the weekend, Israel announced it would open up additional humanitarian corridors to provide aide in Gaza, pause fighting to allow for distribution and carry out aid drops.
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