French President Francois Hollande opened the Paris peace summit this morning by saying that discord in the rest of the Middle East is not a reason to “abandon the Israeli-Palestinian issue”.

Twenty nine countries are participating in the summit, but there are no Israeli or Palestinian delegates . The meeting aims to set a date for an international peace conference by the end of the year.

“This initiative has one aim,” Mr Hollande told the delegates, “to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process." He said that the only way to achieve this is via a two-state solution.

He said: “The only ones to benefit from the continuation of the status quo are the extremists who oppose peace. A peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians must include the countries of the region.

“There's war in Syria and in Iraq and terror in the regions. There are those who interpret this as a chance to abandon the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but I claim the opposite.”

Israel has criticised the initiative, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying earlier this week: "The path to peace is not via international conferences that attempt to force a settlement, that make the Palestinian demands more extreme and in the process distance peace."