Major powers reaffirm urgent need to negotiate two-state solution to end Middle East deadlock

Major powers gathered here on Friday expressed the need for a negotiated two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and pledged a package of incentives for the two sides to revive the stranded peace talks and promote stability in the region.

At the Paris meeting, foreign ministers from Arab and western countries warned the situation was not sustainable due to continued settlement activity and growing violence.

They urged the two rival camps to show "with policies and actions, a genuine commitment to the two-state solution" widely considered as "the only way to achieve an enduring peace."

In a fresh diplomatic boost to get Israelis and Palestinians to sit down at the same table for talks, participants agreed on "providing meaningful incentives to the parties to make peace," a final joint statement said.

Direct negotiations between the two sides should be based on existing U.N. Security Council resolutions, it added.

"The two-state solution is in serious danger. We are reaching a point of no return where this solution will not be possible," French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.

"We must act urgently to preserve the two-state solution before it's too late," he was quoted as saying by local media.

The Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations), and top diplomats of many Arab and European states took part in the Paris conference at which world leaders hoped to lay the groundwork for future peace talks involving both parties.

Neither Israel nor Palestine participated in the summit.

The last round of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinian authorities broke down in April 2014 after the two sides failed to resolve their long-standing dispute over Israeli settlements, Palestinian state borders, and security. Endit