French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot at the Ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan at the Quai d’Orsay in Paris, France, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

As world leaders hail Israel and Hamas’s agreement to a US-backed peace plan to end the war in Gaza, European leaders are pressing to make the ceasefire a steppingstone toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the newly signed deal, reaffirming France’s commitment to advancing peace, as Paris prepared to host a conference on Gaza’s postwar governance and reconstruction — a move Israeli leaders have denounced as the latest anti-Israel initiative for excluding them from the talks.

“Great hope for the hostages and their families, for the Palestinians in Gaza, and for the entire region,” Macron wrote in a post on X.

“This agreement must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution,” the French leader said.

Just hours after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire deal, France brought together top diplomats from several Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — alongside European counterparts from Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, to discuss plans for Gaza’s postwar security, governance, and reconstruction.

Turkey’s foreign minister and European Union representatives also took part in the discussions.

The meeting “will work to gather concrete contributions to ensure that the second phase of [US President Donald Trump’s] plan is implemented, specifying the details of a collective commitment based on the main parameters for the ‘day after,'” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement before the gathering.

After the meeting, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters that participants “discussed the major fields to which we intend to contribute: security, governance, reconstruction, and humanitarian aid.”

Without elaborating, he said countries had identified contributions that they were willing to handle in post-conflict Gaza.

“We will share them with the United States so that they can integrate them,” Barrot said.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticized France’s new initiative, saying it unfolded behind Israel’s back and describing it as “unnecessary and harmful” to the peace process.

“The invitation of openly hostile governments toward Israel — such as the Sánchez government — to discuss Israel’s affairs is especially outrageous,” Saar wrote in a post on X, referring to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Just one day earlier, Spanish lawmakers had approved the enshrinement in law of an arms embargo on Israel that Sánchez introduced to end what he called “the genocide in Gaza.”

“The participants may of course discuss whatever topics they wish — but there will be no arrangements in Gaza formulated without Israel’s consent,” the top Israeli diplomat said.

“Today we make it clear: nothing about Israel without Israel!” Saar continued. “Israel will not agree to the internationalization of the conflict!”

While the US works with several Middle Eastern countries to advance peace in the region, Israeli and Jewish leaders have criticized Europe and the UN for pursuing initiatives that they say accomplish little in practice.

In an interview with Euronews on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized EU member states for their recent moves to recognize a Palestinian state, calling the bloc “absent” from peace-making efforts and “irrelevant.”

Macron on Thursday warned that expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank would pose an “existential threat” to a Palestinian state and undermine efforts for peace in the Middle East.

Announced overnight by Trump on his Truth Social account, the newly signed peace deal will secure the release of all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, with Israel set to free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, allow more humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave, and partially withdraw its forces.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the deal, emphasizing the EU’s readiness to assist with recovery and reconstruction, while continuing to advocate for a two-state solution as part of the peace process.

“Today’s opportunity should be seized. It’s the opportunity to forge a credible political path toward lasting peace and security. A path firmly anchored in the two-state solution,” the top EU official wrote in a post on X.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also welcomed the agreement, taking the opportunity to push for renewed efforts toward a lasting two-state solution.

“I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, leading to a two-state solution to enable Israelis & Palestinians to live in peace & security,” Guterres posted on X.

Europe’s latest push for a two-state solution comes after several Western countries — including France, the UK, Australia, and Canada — recognized a Palestinian state at last month’s UN General Assembly, a move Israeli and US officials have criticized as rewarding terrorism.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also joined European leaders in their calls for a two-state solution, expressing hope that the Gaza deal “will serve as a prelude to achieving a sustainable political solution that ends the Israeli occupation and leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, borders.”

However, Netanyahu warned on Sunday that the creation of a Palestinian state would be “the ultimate reward for Hamas after doing the greatest massacre against the Jews since the Holocaust.”

Israeli officials have noted that they in effect gave the Palestinians a state in Gaza in 2005, when Israel completely withdrew all military and civilian personnel from the enclave. Hamas, an internationally designated Islamist terror group, was subsequently elected to power in parliamentary elections and then violently seized total control of Gaza in 2007.