The United Nations chief isn’t holding back his criticism of Israel’s latest move in the occupied West Bank and he’s warning that hopes for peace are slipping through the world’s fingers, according to APP.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed grave concern Monday over Israel’s decision to expand settlement powers in the West Bank, a move that analysts say inches dangerously close to outright annexation of Palestinian land. The new measures would make it significantly easier for Jewish settlers to claim Palestinian territory, effectively tightening Israel’s grip on the occupied region.
“The current trajectory on the ground is eroding the prospect for a two-state solution,” Guterres warned in a strongly worded statement. He didn’t mince words, calling all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, a “flagrant violation of international law” with “no legal validity.”
The UN chief’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, doubled down during a press briefing in New York. “These decisions are not moving us in the right direction,” he said bluntly. “They are driving us further and further away from a two-state solution and from the ability of the Palestinian people to control their own destiny.”
Guterres urged Israel to reverse course and called on all parties to preserve “the only path to lasting peace”, a negotiated settlement that establishes two separate states.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen. Despite UN efforts to provide hundreds of thousands of meals daily, Gaza City faces severe water shortages. Only 6,000 cubic meters of water reach residents each day, with significant losses in hard to reach areas.
Aid workers have distributed over 100,000 water containers since late January, along with 700,000 bars of soap and thousands of hygiene kits. Yet their work remains frustratingly hampered by Israeli restrictions on “dual use” items and shelter materials.
The danger hasn’t disappeared with the ceasefire either. Since the truce began last October, thirty-three explosive incidents have killed nine people and injured sixty five others. Mine action teams are racing to educate communities about unexploded ordnance, a deadly threat that lurks in the rubble.
As settlement expansion accelerates and humanitarian access shrinks, the path to peace grows narrower by the day.
