Conference on the Question of Palestine and a Two-State Solution (2025)

The question of a two-State solution, and of according recognition for a Palestinian State, have been part of GA considerations since the GA first addressed the Palestinian question in 1947. Resolution 181(II) of 1947 envisioned independent Arab and Jewish States in Palestine and stipulated that “when the independence of either the Arab or the Jewish State as envisaged in this plan has become effective … sympathetic consideration should be given to its application for admission to membership in the UN” (A/RES/181(II), Part I, Chapter 4 (F)). The “Partition Plan” proposed in resolution 181(II) was not accepted by the parties and was immediately overtaken by the change in situation following the first Arab-Israeli war. However, the GA remained continuously engaged in trying to support good offices and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict over the subsequent seven decades, in particular to ensure Palestinian representation at the UN and to keep the idea of a two-State solution on the agenda.¹ This has included appointing the first UN mediator or envoy on the issue in 1948 (A/RES/186 (S-2)), establishing committees that could contribute to mediation of the conflict (A/RES/194(III); A/RES/3376(XXX)), calling for or supporting conferences related to Middle East peace talks (A/RES/31/62 (1976); A/RES/38/58[C], para. 3; A/RES/48/58) and authorizing a UN Special Coordinator for the Occupied Territories to facilitate further talks (SG/A/585|SG/SM/5298).

In September 2024, the GA adopted resolution ES-10/24, which primarily focused on welcoming and responding to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legal consequences of policies and practices in the OPT and East Jerusalem, but also included a proposal for an international conference on “the implementation of the United Nations resolutions pertaining to the question of Palestine and the two-State solution for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East” (A/RES/ES-10/24, para. 13). A more concrete proposal for a conference within 2025 was highlighted in a subsequent resolution in the 79th session,² which welcomed the announcement of a “High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the two-State Solution, to be held in June 2025” and included modalities of the conference in the annex (A/RES/79/81, para. 2, annex).

The conference, which was held at the GA in New York from 28 to 30 July 2025, resulted in an outcome document signed by the two co-chairs of the conference and relevant working groups, entitled the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution (“New York Declaration”, A/CONF.243/2025/1). Signatories of the New York Declaration “committed to taking tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps for the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution” (ibid., para. 6).³

Early in the GA’s 80th session, on 12 September 2025, the General Assembly endorsed the New York Declaration (A/80/L.1/Rev.1, 142-10-12). Shortly after this on 22 September, during High-Level Week, the Conference reopened for its final plenary meeting, during which ten Member States announced their recognition of Palestine as a State.⁴