United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has warned that time is running out for a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying there is “simply no alternative” to the creation of independent Israeli and Palestinian states.
Guterres spoke at a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The meeting was chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, one year after the two countries held a summit on the future of the two state solution, reported by Arab News.
He said that many countries had recognised Palestine over the past year. By doing so, they had accepted that a solution based on the pre 1967 lines, international law, UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements remained the only credible path to lasting peace and security.
But Guterres said the conditions needed for an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state were being “systematically erased”. He referred to settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, land seizures and the displacement of Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
He also warned that settler violence had reached alarming levels. Citing the International Court of Justice, he said Israeli policies and practices amounted to unlawful annexation. He singled out Israel’s proposed E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem, warning that its implementation could destroy the possibility of a connected and workable Palestinian state.
Guterres said the suffering in Gaza had made promises of peace sound empty unless they were followed by real changes on the ground. He called for the full implementation of the peace plan for the territory.
The UN chief urged governments to stop settlement expansion, prevent annexation, support Palestinian institutions and strengthen efforts to end the occupation. Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he said, must remain united under one legitimate Palestinian government.
He called for two sovereign and democratic states to live side by side in peace, with secure borders based on the pre 1967 lines and Jerusalem as the capital of both. “There’s simply no alternative,” he said. “And time is running out.”
