# U.N. conference backs two-state solution and outlines transitional Gaza plan
*Event date: 2025-07-29*
High-level representatives at a United Nations conference on 2025-07-29 backed a two-state solution and set out a phased plan for ending the war in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.
The declaration, described as the "New York Declaration," calls for an independent and demilitarized Palestine to live alongside Israel. It also says the Palestinian Authority should govern and control all Palestinian territory, with a transitional administrative committee established under its umbrella after a ceasefire in Gaza.
The document goes further by saying Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority. It also supports a temporary international stabilization mission under U.N. auspices to protect civilians, support the transfer of security and monitor a ceasefire and any future peace agreement.
The conference was presented as a diplomatic attempt to keep the two-state solution alive while the Gaza war continues. The AP said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to the war and implementation of the solution, while some 125 countries participated in the meeting. Israel and the United States boycotted the gathering, with Israel's U.N. ambassador accusing participants of appeasement and the U.S. calling the event unproductive and ill-timed.
The declaration also condemned Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on civilians in southern Israel and described them as a triggering event for the wider war. It condemned Israel's attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza and called the territory's siege and starvation a humanitarian catastrophe.
The plan envisioned the Palestinian Authority taking responsibility for all Palestinian territory after the war, and said a temporary committee would operate immediately under its umbrella after a ceasefire. It also urged states to recognize Palestine as an essential and indispensable step toward two states.
France and Saudi Arabia co-chaired the conference, and a separate one-page "New York Call" was later circulated by France and backed by 15 Western nations, including countries that had already recognized Palestine and others that said they were considering it. The AP said Britain pledged to recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire and additional steps toward peace.
The conference did not end the war or settle the long-running conflict, but it created a detailed diplomatic reference point for governments that want to say they support a Palestinian state while also insisting on demilitarization and a new governing framework in Gaza. That balance was the central feature of the declaration.
