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LONDON: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Monday that the conference co-organized by the Kingdom and France aims to strengthen international efforts toward achieving a two-state solution and securing recognition of a Palestinian state.

Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency, Prince Faisal said the three-day meeting in New York supports the work of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, an initiative launched by ������Ƶ, Norway, and the EU.

He added that the conference “reflects the Kingdom’s firm and longstanding position on the Palestinian cause,” and reaffirms its continued efforts to support “the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

Held at the UN from July 28 to 30, the conference comes just days after French President Emmanuel Macron pledged that France would officially recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September — potentially making it the first G7 nation to do so.

Prince Faisal said the event seeks to “establish a just peace in the region,” enhance security, and “halt the cycle of violence caused by the prolonged Israeli occupation.”

JERUSALEM: Rights groups ��’T������� and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that they had concluded the war in Gaza amounts to “genocide” against Palestinians, a first for Israeli NGOs.
Both organizations are frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports issued on Monday was their most stark yet.
“Nothing prepares you for the realization that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us,” ��’T������� executive director Yuli Novak told a news conference unveiling the two reports.
“As Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible,” she said.
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”
Israel’s war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has killed at least 59,821 people, most of them civilians.
All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition.
The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it “plausible” that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.
The Israeli government, backed by the United States, fiercely denies the charge and says it is fighting to defeat Hamas and to bring back Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
The reports from ��’T������� — one of Israel’s best-known rights groups — and Physicians for Human Rights Israel argue that the war’s objectives go further.
��’T�������’s report cites statements from senior politicians to illustrate that Israel “is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip.”
Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s report documents what the group says is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of Gaza’s health care system.”