Paris, June 15 -- A top-level UN conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians scheduled for next week has been postponed amid surging tensions in the Middle East, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. France and Saudi Arabia were due to co-chair the conference hosted by the UN General Assembly in New York on June 17-20, and Macron had been among leaders scheduled to attend. The Palestinian Authority hoped the conference would revive the long-defunct peace process. Macron expressed his "determination to recognise the state of Palestine" at some point, despite the postponement. France has pushed for a broader movement toward recognising a Palestinian state in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself. After Israel's strikes on Iran on Friday, Macron said that France's military forces around the Middle East are ready to help protect partners in the region, including Israel, but would not take part in any attacks on Iran. Meanwhile, Israeli fire and airstrikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, most of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, local health authorities said. Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in central Gaza areas, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the Netzarim corridor. The rest were killed in separate attacks across the enclave, they added. There has been no immediate comment by the Israeli military or the GHF on Saturday's incidents. Later on Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and the nearby towns of Abassan and Bani Suhaila in the southern Gaza Strip to head west towards the so-called humanitarian zone area, saying it would forcefully work against "terror organisations" in the area....