Conference on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

France’s president said yesterday that spiralling Middle East upheaval since the collapse of the round of Israel-Palestinian peace talks has complicated the process and makes it even more urgent to bring the two sides back to the table.

With US efforts to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace in deep freeze for two years and Washington focused on its November presidential election, France lobbied for an international conference that began yesterday with the aim of breaking the apathy over the impasse.

While Palestinians have supported the French initiative, Israeli officials have said it is doomed to fail and that only direct negotiations can lead to a solution to the generations-old conflict.