Overview

• Prime Minister Luc Frieden said Luxembourg intends to join countries recognizing a Palestinian state at next week’s two-state conference in New York, a plan Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed.
• France and Saudi Arabia drove the text behind the push, and Britain, Australia, Canada, Belgium and Portugal are among those preparing parallel recognitions at the UN General Assembly meeting.
• The draft “Declaration of New York” urges an end to the Gaza war and a genuine implementation of a two-state solution, with reporting that it has wide support in the General Assembly.
• Israel and the United States reject the declaration and have criticized the coordinated recognition campaign.
• Luxembourg’s leaders cited famine and a sharply deteriorating situation in Gaza and said both Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas oppose a two-state outcome while they remain convinced it can deliver lasting peace.