The French government has said that it will move to officially recognise a Palestinian state if the next push for a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians fails.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has proposed a two-year timeframe to end the conflict through a UN-backed resolution.

“If this final effort to reach a negotiated solution fails, then France will have to do what it takes by recognizing the Palestinian state without delay. We are ready,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told parliament.

French members of parliament will hold a symbolic vote on Tuesday on whether the government should recognize Palestine as a state, a move that the Israeli Prime Minister has called a “grave mistake”.

Mr Fabius said that the outcome of the vote would not change France’s diplomatic stance.

But he said that, after similar moves in Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Denmark Spain, Paris could not continue to ignore conflict that was feeding extremism.