France to convene Middle East peace

France will convene some 70 countries on Jan. 15 for a Middle East peace conference in Paris, its foreign minister said on Thursday. 

The plan was to hold a follow-up conference before the end of the year with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas involved to see whether the two sides could be brought back to negotiations and revive moribund peace talks, the Times of Israel reported. 

Netanyahu had repeatedly rejected the conference proposal.

"France is still determined to hold a conference in Paris to reaffirm the necessity of a two-state solution," Jean-Marc Ayrault told journalists.

"January 15 is the date that has been fixed and 70 countries are invited. We are not going to give up now."

Source: MENA