Paris to Host Int’l Ministerial Meeting on Israel-Palestine Peace Process

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The conference is set to address the issues of Palestinians, who seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which have been partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip, as well as the Israeli stance.

The conference is due to be convened at the initiative of the French authorities. According to French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, a total of 28 delegations have confirmed their participation in the upcoming conference.

"Tomorrow in Paris, France will greet 28 delegations attending the ministerial meeting, which will be the first stage of the Middle East peace initiative," Nadal said Thursday.

The meeting, intended to re-launch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, will be chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault and inaugurated by President Francois Hollande.

The conference's participants will assess the situation that involves possible risks for the two states' concept. They also plan to discuss the means to implement this concept and the possibility of rapprochement between the Palestinians and the Israelis in order to hold another international conference at the end of 2016.

According to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki, the aim of the French initiative is the "end of the occupation, the onset of peace" and consolidation of the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

On Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Zvi Heifetz said that Israel was ready to sign the peace treaty with its neighboring countries, including Palestine and Saudi Arabia.