Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where John has had an eventful week reacquainting himself with the United Nations HQ’s maze of hallways and stairwells ahead of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in late September. He’s looking forward to Rishi tag-teaming the high-level week with him as world leaders gather in the Big Apple (and praying the awful heat wave will have broken by then). Keep an eye out for our coverage!

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: A U.N. conference on a two-state solution, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s political ambitions, and new sanctions on Iran.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where John has had an eventful week reacquainting himself with the United Nations HQ’s maze of hallways and stairwells ahead of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in late September. He’s looking forward to Rishi tag-teaming the high-level week with him as world leaders gather in the Big Apple (and praying the awful heat wave will have broken by then). Keep an eye out for our coverage!

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: A U.N. conference on a two-state solution, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s political ambitions, and new sanctions on Iran.

France and Saudi Arabia co-hosted a conference at the United Nations this week that aimed to breathe new life into the long-standing but elusive goal of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. The conference occurred against the backdrop of rising global outrage over Israel’s tactics in the war on Gaza and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank. There was a sense of urgency among those in attendance, as diplomats called for an immediate cease-fire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and Israeli restrictions on aid to be lifted.

The death toll in Gaza since the war began has surpassed 60,000, and a leading global hunger monitor warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is underway in the enclave. Amid growing concerns that Israel aims to depopulate Gaza and annex territory, U.N. chief António Guterres on Monday implored conference attendees to go beyond “well-meaning rhetoric.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in an address to the conference said that the two-state solution is in “mortal danger” and conceded that it’s difficult to remain hopeful. Yet Barrot made the case that a two-state solution is the only alternative to the long cycle of violence between Israel and Palestine and argued that it would be pointless to hope for a lasting cease-fire without “sketching out a shared vision for what comes after the war in Gaza” and a “political horizon.”

The Israeli government, which opposes Palestinian statehood, boycotted the event, as did the United States. The Trump administration dismissed the conference as “ill-timed” and a “publicity stunt.”

Road map. The conference may have fallen short in terms of fully reviving the two-state solution. But overall, it still reaffirmed the international community’s determination to end one of the world’s most intractable conflicts and helped lay out a road map for how it hopes to get there with a joint communique—the New York declaration—that was backed by the Arab League, the European Union, and 17 other countries.

The New York declaration envisions........

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