United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on world leaders to ensure the two-state solution remains central to securing peace for the people of Israel, Palestine, and humanity at large.
Guterres made the appeal at the resumption of an international conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia and France, focused on the question of Palestine and the future of the two-state solution with Israel. The conference took place on Monday ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is morally, legally, and politically intolerable. The nightmare must stop,” Guterres said. He reiterated that nothing could justify the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, nor the collective punishment of Palestinians. He renewed his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and immediate safe, unconditional, and unhindered humanitarian access.
Guterres further warned that developments in the West Bank, including “relentless” settlement expansion, the “creeping threat of annexation,” and rising settler violence, posed a direct existential threat to the two-state solution. “We must recommit ourselves to the Two-State solution before it is too late. Let’s be clear: Statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward. And denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere. Without two states, there will be no peace in the Middle East, and radicalism will spread around the world,” he stated.
Also speaking at the conference, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock stressed that the two-state solution remained the only viable path to secure a peaceful future for both Palestinians and Israelis. “We know that some think this is a naïve wish” as the first resolution on the matter “is almost as old as this organisation,” she said. Addressing decades of stalemate, she argued that abandoning the goal would mean “evil would prevail” and would mark “the end of this institution.”
Baerbock emphasized that the international community was not only committed to the two-state solution but also working to “identify tangible, timebound and irreversible steps for its realisation,” pledging decisive measures and international guarantees to ensure progress.
