Canada and Australia have joined the "New York call" and have expressed their "willingness to recognize the State of Palestine." Both countries are among the 15 signatories of the final text of the conference sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia within the framework of the UN to promote the two-state solution.
The inclusion of Canada and Australia, a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer anticipated the UK's intention to recognize the state of Palestine "unless Israel takes substantive steps to end the terrible situation in Gaza," is seen as a diplomatic success for President Emmanuel Macron, a week after announcing that France will take that step on September 21 at the UN General Assembly.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who opened the conference held this week in New York warning that "there is no alternative to the two-state solution," made public the "New York call" on Wednesday at the close of the special conference (boycotted by Israel and the United States) attended by 125 delegations.
Spain joined the "call" along with four other countries that have already recognized the state of Palestine (Iceland, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia). Nine others that have not yet done so express their "willingness to recognize" the Palestinian State and invite "those who have not yet done so to join us."
Canada and Australia, both members of the G-20 like France, top the list of countries expressing their "willingness" or "positive stance" for recognition, along with Portugal, Andorra, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, and San Marino.
Currently, a total of 147 out of the 193 UN member states have already recognized the state of Palestine, which has the status of a "non-member observer" state at the UN and was represented at the conference by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the New York conference as part of "a distorted campaign" of international pressure against his country. "Establishing a Palestinian state today means establishing a Hamas state, a jihadist state," Saar declared. "This will not happen."
The backdrop of the conference was set by the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) report warning that "the worst famine scenario is already underway in Gaza", with one in three residents going days without food and 20,000 children being treated for malnutrition in hospitals.
"Ending the worst scenario will require efforts from all parties," warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "We need a permanent ceasefire, unconditional release of hostages, and unrestricted access to humanitarian aid in Gaza."
France has joined in the announcements already made by the UK and Germany to create a humanitarian aid airlift. "Starting Friday, and in coordination with Jordanian authorities, we will organize four special flights with 10 metric tons of essential supplies each destined for the Gaza Strip," announced Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
"The air route is useful but not sufficient," Barrot emphasized. "There are 52 metric tons of basic supplies sent by France and blocked in El-Arish, the Egyptian city 50 kilometers from Gaza. It is essential that Israeli authorities reopen land access to alleviate the atrocious suffering of the civilian population."