Luxembourg plans to recognize a Palestinian state next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Arriving at an EU meeting in Brussels today, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed statements made yesterday (Monday) by Prime Minister Luc Frieden after a closed-door meeting with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Betel and Frieden criticized both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian group Hamas, accusing them of opposing the two-state solution.

Nevertheless, “we are convinced that the two-state solution can bring lasting peace to the region,” Frieden said.

“This will not happen overnight,” but there is a movement that demonstrates that this solution “is still relevant,” the Luxembourg prime minister assessed.

“That is why the Luxembourg government intends to join those who will recognise the state of Palestine (…) next week,” he concluded.

After France and Saudi Arabia, which drafted the text, several countries have announced their intention to recognise the state of Palestine next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The process is seen as a means of putting additional pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.

This “New York Declaration”, already supported by a majority of UN member states, also calls for “an end to the war in Gaza” and “a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the effective implementation of the two-state solution”.

The declaration is rejected by both Israel and the US.