France reaffirms that there is 'no alternative' to a two-state solution

BEIRUT — French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Monday that there is "no alternative to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine" as he opened a United Nations conference on the issue alongside his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

"Only a political solution based on two states will meet the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. There is no alternative," he said.

Asked about the possible imposition of sanctions against Israel, Barrot listed a series of demands for Israel. "We know exactly what conditions Israel must meet. It owes more than $2 billion to the Palestinian Authority and must halt construction in the E1 area [in occupied West Bank] and cancel plans for more than 300 housing units in the West Bank," he said.

The minister also called for an end to the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the United States and Israel, which he described as a militarized system responsible for "a bloodbath causing more than 1,000 deaths. This cannot continue."

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,157 Palestinians have been killed and 7,758 injured by gunfire from the Israeli army or American mercenaries during GHF aid distributions set up since early May.

These statements from the head of French diplomacy come just days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris will soon recognize a Palestinian state, while Israel continues to reject any prospect of a process leading to this outcome by pursuing its destructive war in the Gaza Strip and settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.