France to advance UNSC resolution calling for ‘permanent’ Gaza ceasefire, two states, release of hostages

France’s top diplomat Stephane Sejourne says his government will put forward a draft resolution at the UN Security Council setting out a “political” settlement of the war.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo, he says the text will include “all the criteria for a two-state solution” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the peace blueprint long championed by the international community but opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition.

Sejourne was speaking alongside the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers and together they called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Palestinian terrorists since the October 7 massacre.
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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Gaza “can endure no more destruction and humanitarian suffering”, and called on Israel to open its land crossings with the Gaza Strip to humanitarian aid.

Nearly all aid into the territory has trickled through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where world leaders and the United Nations have accused Israel of impeding deliveries due to security inspections.

Israel has blamed the UN and other aid agencies for the crisis and has argued the hold-up is on their side.

On Thursday, Channel 12 reported that France was circulating a UN Security Council draft resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state.

The draft also includes a condemnation of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, unlike the resolution that passed earlier this week, and a call for the release of the hostages taken from Israel on October 7, according to the report.

Israel’s envoy to the UN told Channel 12 that the French proposal “plays into Hamas’s hands and rewards terrorism.”

The proposal “breaks all the principles of negotiations and advances unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” he said, adding that Israel will “strongly oppose this terrible proposal.”

France has advocated for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, whereas the United States, Israel’s main ally, recently let pass a UN Security Council resolution that calls for a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan and a release of all the hostages.