The United Nations General Assembly today overwhelmingly adopted a declaration outlining concrete, time-bound and irreversible steps towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of a meeting of leaders from around the world.

The seven-page statement is the result of an international conference held at the UN in July – hosted by Saudi Arabia and France – on the long-running conflict. The US and Israel boycotted the event.

A resolution approving the declaration received 142 votes in favor and 10 against, while 12 countries abstained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Thursday that Israel will never accept a Palestinian state. Three-quarters of the 193 UN member states already recognize the state declared by the Palestinian leadership in 1988.

Germany and Italy remain the only major European countries resisting, although the Italian government appears increasingly divided. Five European countries have banned imports from illegal Israeli settlements.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the adoption at the UN of the New York Declaration, which aims to give new impetus to the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, with the French president speaking of a step on an irreversible path towards peace.

Led by France and Saudi Arabia, 142 countries adopted the New York Declaration on the implementation of the two-state solution, the French president said.