Palestinian ambassador to France Salman Al-Harfi announced on Monday that a ministerial meeting will be held at the United Nations General Assembly in September to prepare for the International Peace Conference.
The conference is expected to be held by the end of 2016 to review the progress of peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and international efforts to facilitate it.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told United States secretary of state John Kerry in a phone call on Sunday that he favoured the peace initiative of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi over the French plan, adding that Al-Sisi’s desire to push the peace process is a “positive thing”.
Al-Harfi further said that the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will visit next week to meet with his French counterpart, as well as meeting Kerry to discuss global efforts to support the French peace initiative.
The peace operation aims to reach a final agreement that will help establish the Palestinian state through negotiations.
The conference is scheduled to take place in Norway over the upcoming months, according to Norwegian peace envoy Tor Wennesland. “This assembly will coordinate providing assistance and humanitarian aid for Palestinians,” he said.
A previous meeting in Paris had failed due to Israel’s refusal to participate, saying that direct negotiations are the best solution.
The peace process has not faced such ignorance and neglect since the Oslo agreement in 1993, Egypt’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said at the conference in Paris.
