Gaza Burns While New York Talks: Can Diplomacy Put Out the Fire?
As bombardments continue in Gaza, the Palestinian issue is set to dominate next week’s UN agenda amid intensifying international debates over the two-state solution.
Palestine will top the agenda of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
On Monday, one day before U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the assembly, a special summit on the two-state solution will resume. The meeting represents a joint diplomatic initiative led by France and Saudi Arabia, taking place against the backdrop of Israel’s nearly two-year-long war in Gaza.
The conflict, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of the overcrowded territory. It has also inflamed public opinion across the globe, including in Western nations traditionally aligned with Israel.
Adding to Israel’s dismay, a UN independent commission announced this week that it had found clear evidence of genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s Isolation
Yousef Munayyer, senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, told The Washington Post: “For those recognizing Palestine, this is an attempt to respond to domestic demands for action over the genocide in Gaza by resorting to outdated political tools.”
He added, “At the same time, this decision highlights for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the extent of Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation.”
On the ground, no viable conditions for a Palestinian state seem to exist: settlements continue to expand in the West Bank, while Israeli forces mount a punitive offensive in Gaza, driving hundreds of thousands of residents into a desperate search for safety in a besieged enclave with no secure refuge.
Still, diplomats argue that recognizing Palestine is “the best tool available right now to safeguard the two-state solution,” according to The Washington Post.
Last Friday, an overwhelming majority of the UN’s 193 member states passed a non-binding resolution endorsing the two-state solution. Ten more countries, including France and the United Kingdom, are expected to formally recognize Palestine next week, joining more than 145 nations that have already done so.
Global Support for Palestine, U.S. Alignment with Israel
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media: “The international community is charting an irreversible path toward peace in the Middle East. Two peoples, two states: Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.”
But this vision is not shared by Netanyahu or any member of his government. On the same day as the UN vote, the Israeli prime minister defiantly declared: “There will never be a Palestinian state.”
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, dismissed the resolution as mere “theater,” framing any discussion of Palestinian sovereignty as a gift to Hamas. The Trump administration echoed this view, shielding Israel from UN criticism and dismissing the vote as “another misleading propaganda stunt at the wrong time.”
As The Washington Post notes, Washington has used its influence within the UN system to block ceasefire efforts and shield Israel from accountability. The United States has condemned the genocide case before the International Court of Justice, imposed sanctions on ICC officials who issued arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders, and cut funding to key UN agencies providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, where parts of the population are facing famine.
Gaza in the Grip of Hell
Meanwhile, the Israeli assault on Gaza continues. In open disagreement with the Israeli chief of staff—who has urged negotiating a deal to free the remaining hostages—Netanyahu and his far-right coalition remain committed to achieving an outright military victory.
According to The Washington Post, Trump has privately grown frustrated with Netanyahu’s unwillingness to scale back military operations, especially after Israel struck Hamas’s political leadership during negotiations in Qatar. Yet publicly, the White House has shown “no hint of daylight” between itself and the Netanyahu government.
The question remains: what meaning, if any, will these diplomatic maneuvers in New York have for the grim reality unfolding in Gaza?
