Israel is furious and is threatening to respond.
It sees the UN conference – along with recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, France, Canada, Australia and others – as a reward for Hamas after its attack on Israel and its hostage taking of 7 October 2023.
Some Israeli ministers want the response to be an announcement of annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, forever ruling out a viable Palestinian state on the territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, including far-right figures whose avowed policy is to expel Palestinians and build Jewish settlements in their place, is intent on pulling the plug on a two-state solution.
President Donald Trump’s administration continues to back its Israeli ally, rejecting the Europeans’ move, punishing Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.
It barred him from attending the conference in New York and he spoke via video link instead.
The Palestine conference and the Trump administration’s reaction marks the deepest ever split between Washington and its European allies over how to solve the Middle East conflict.
But the Europeans believe they have been left with little choice given the situation on the ground.
Israel is now deploying a third army division into Gaza City, with dozens of Palestinians being killed every day; Hamas continues to hold nearly 50 hostages, many of them dead; while the West Bank is in the grip of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence.
All this nearly two years on from the 7 October attacks, with few signs that further military pressure will force the surrender by Hamas that Israel seeks.