Israeli-Palestinian peace requires ‘international support’ — Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry says Sunday that a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence could hamper French efforts to revive the peace process, but pledged that “we are all looking for a way forward.

“The United States and myself remain deeply, deeply committed to a two-state solution,” Kerry says after a Paris meeting with his counterparts from France, Italy, Britain, Germany and EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.

“At the moment it is a difficult one, because of the violence that has been taking place, and there are not many people in Israel or in the region itself right now that believe in the possibilities of peace because of those levels of violence,” he adds.

Kerry’s comments come after his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault says he would present proposals to revive talks to EU foreign ministers who are meeting in Brussels on Monday.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains but is getting worse, the status quo cannot last,” Ayrault says in Paris.

The newly appointed French foreign minister visited Cairo last week to drum up support for the initiative to hold an international conference by the summer to revive peace talks.

A previous round of talks brokered by Kerry collapsed in April 2014.

“There’s not any one country or one person can resolve this. This is going to require the global community, it will require international support,” says Kerry.

Senior French diplomat Pierre Vimont is touring Israel, the Palestinian territories and other countries in the region to discuss the proposal before heading to Washington next week.

Mogherini says France was coordinating its proposals with the EU as part of “joint efforts to try and create conditions for a two-state solution.”

— AFP