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France to Host International Meet on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in June

15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
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France to Host International Meet on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in June

15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)

France will host an international meeting in June dedicated to the long-touted two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the French foreign minister announced on Thursday.

"On September 22 last year, France took the momentous decision to recognize the State of Palestine and will host an international conference in Paris on June 12 so that Israeli and Palestinian civil societies can make their voices heard," Jean-Noel Barrot said in a video message played to a gathering of peace activists in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The "People's Peace Summit" in Tel Aviv was organized by the "It's Time" coalition, a grouping of more than 80 peacebuilding organizations working to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through a political agreement guaranteeing both peoples' right to self-determination and secure lives.

Several hundred people attended the meeting in Tel Aviv, AFP journalists reported.

"While the Middle East remains deeply scarred by the terrorist attacks of October 7 (2023) in Israel, by more than two and a half years of devastating war in Gaza and by a humanitarian crisis that, sadly, shows no sign of abating, your presence here is an act of resistance against fatalism and resignation," Barrot said.

Palestinian movement Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, where a ceasefire in effect since October has largely halted fighting.

Barrot's remarks come as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, vehemently opposes the emergence of a sovereign and fully independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and is working on the ground to undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas appears extremely weakened and deeply unpopular.

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Arab World

Israel Plans Major Settlement Push Across Occupied West Bank

A photograph taken from a land corridor that Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 settlement project, near the Arab town of al-Tur in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, shows camels belonging to Bedouins gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim (background) on May 31, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
A photograph taken from a land corridor that Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 settlement project, near the Arab town of al-Tur in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, shows camels belonging to Bedouins gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim (background) on May 31, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israel Plans Major Settlement Push Across Occupied West Bank

A photograph taken from a land corridor that Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 settlement project, near the Arab town of al-Tur in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, shows camels belonging to Bedouins gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim (background) on May 31, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
A photograph taken from a land corridor that Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 settlement project, near the Arab town of al-Tur in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, shows camels belonging to Bedouins gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim (background) on May 31, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Israel's hardline finance minister announced on Wednesday a major expansion by more than 2,000 homes of three Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians hope will be part of a future independent state.

Most nations consider Israeli settlements there to be illegal under international law and a major obstacle to a two-state solution for long-term peace.

Bezalel Smotrich, who holds authority over parts of Israel's civilian administration in the West Bank, said a planning committee approved the construction of 2,162 new Jewish homes.

They include 1,006 units in a new settlement near Jerusalem, 922 near the Palestinian city of Nablus and 234 near ⁠Hebron.

"We are continuing ⁠to build the Land of Israel in practice," said Smotrich, an ultranationalist sanctioned by Britain, France and others who accuse him of inciting violence against Palestinians.

Smotrich has denounced the sanctions against him, saying the measures would not change Israeli policy.

The new homes would "strengthen our hold on the land, reinforce Israel's security, and establish clear facts on the ground that prevent the creation of an Arab terror state ⁠in the heart of the country," Smotrich said in a statement, without specifying when construction would begin.

Since becoming a minister three years ago, Smotrich has sought to tighten Israel's control and presence in the West Bank while advocating against the idea of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government has overseen the significant expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the establishment of new settlements.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state that includes East Jerusalem and Gaza. Around half a million Israelis live in the West Bank among about 3 million Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump's administration has been ⁠far less critical of ⁠the fast-expanding Israeli settlements.

However, Trump did say last September that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, angering some right-wing Israeli lawmakers.

Condemning Wednesday's announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office warned that Israel's "provocative" policies were pushing the region towards more rounds of violence and called on the US to stop the Israeli "madness.”

Smotrich on May 19 said he would wage "war" on the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited civic rule in the West Bank, after he said he was told the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor had sought a confidential arrest warrant against him. The ICC has not confirmed that.

Arab World

UNIFIL Peacekeeper Killed in South Lebanon

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy maneuvers within southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 02 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy maneuvers within southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 02 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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UNIFIL Peacekeeper Killed in South Lebanon

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy maneuvers within southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 02 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy maneuvers within southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 02 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Thursday that a peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded when shelling hit their base in the country's south the previous night.

"A UNIFIL peacekeeper died early this morning from critical injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position," a statement from the force said, adding that an investigation had been launched.

The peacekeeper was Serbian, the country's defense ministry confirmed on Thursday, specifying that he died from injuries caused by a missile strike on the UN base.

"Senior Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic was given emergency medical care at a hospital inside the base after being wounded and then transported by helicopter to the University Medical Center in Beirut, where he died," the statement said.
 

 

Arab World

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Deal: Complete Cessation of Hezbollah Attacks, Creation of Pilot Zones

(L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)
(L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)
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Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Deal: Complete Cessation of Hezbollah Attacks, Creation of Pilot Zones

(L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)
(L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)

Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday agreed to a new ceasefire following talks mediated by the United States. Under the agreement, Hezbollah is to stop all attacks on Israel and withdraw its fighters from the area south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

In a joint statement, the US, Israel and Lebanon said “the ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed with US guidance “to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones” in which the Lebanese army “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.”

“These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” the statement said, adding that both sides “rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.”

Hezbollah has yet to comment on the ceasefire. Before it was announced, the group said it had conducted two drone and rocket attacks on Israeli troops inside Lebanon that it said took place just after midnight local time on Wednesday.

In their statement, “Israel and Lebanon reaffirmed that they have no hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations to build confidence, resolve all outstanding issues, and work toward a comprehensive agreement between the two countries.”

The US reaffirmed that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached directly between the two governments, brokered by Washington, and not through any separate track.

As for Israel, it said that its security and respect for its territorial integrity can only be achieved through Hezbollah’s disarmament and the dismantlement of its infrastructure across Lebanon.

In the statement, “Lebanon reaffirmed the necessity for mutual respect of internationally recognized borders, the urgent need for full implementation of the cessation of hostilities, underscoring the principles of territorial integrity and full state sovereignty.”

It stressed commitment to enhancing the capacity of the Lebanese army, with US support, to assert effective control across the country.