Plans for a United Nations conference in New York aimed at forging a path to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine have been postponed.
According to reports, plans for the conference - scheduled to take place Between June 17 and 20 and co-hosted by France and Saudi-Arabia - were put in limbo following Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran.
The major attack, involving 200 fighter jets, targeted at least 100 sites including Iranian nuclear locations, senior military leaders and scientists.
One source told the Jerusalem Post that delegations from the Middle East would not be able to attend due to the ongoing conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were supposed to co-chair the conference, which was supported in a joint statement by the governments of Britain, France and Canada.
“We affirm the important role of the High-level Two-State Solution Conference at the UN in June in building international consensus around this aim,” the statement said.
“And we are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end.”
US President Donald Trump was discouraging global governments from attending the UN conference, Reuters reported, citing a leaked diplomatic cable.
The diplomatic demarche, sent on Tuesday, warned countries that if they take part in "anti-Israel actions" following the conference, they may be seen as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington.
Macron, the co-sponsor of the three-day conference, has previously suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference, and has declared recognition of Palestine as “a moral duty and political requirement”.
From June 13 to June 14 in Paris, a conference is taking place to develop policy proposals for a “diplomatic resolution” to the ongoing conflict, which were supposed to be presented at the French-Saudi-led UN meeting in New York.
The centrepiece event, hosted by the Paris Peace Forum on June 13, is titled: “The Paris Call for the Two-State Solution, Peace, and Regional Security.”
