France decided to postpone an international conference, which was scheduled for next week and aimed at establishing an international framework for a peace process to the decades old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The conference will be postponed to the month of January, yet no specific date has been set, as of now. According to reports, the decision to postpone the conference was “to make better preparations,” that will solidify enough international support to advance a viable framework.
Israel continues to refuse participation to the conference, warning it will only distance the prospects of achieving a solution to the conflict, while emphasizing that only through direct negotiations peace can be attainable. France has repeatedly pushed for resuming the peace process this year, holding a preliminary conference in June where the United Nations, European Union, United States and major Arab countries gathered to discuss proposals without the Israelis or Palestinians present. The plan was to hold a follow-up conference before Christmas, to see whether the two sides could be brought back to negotiating table. The international conference was aimed at agreeing on a joint statement that would reaffirm the two-state solution, on the basis of pre-1967 borders, and according to Security Council resolutions. The French foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.