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NEW YORK: There is \u201csimply no alternative\u201d to the two-state solution, the UN secretary-general said on Tuesday, warning that time is running out as the foundations of a future Palestinian state are being dismantled.<\/p>\n
Antonio Guterres delivered his remarks during a closed high-level meeting on the two-state solution chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne year ago, many of your countries joined others in recognizing the State of Palestine,\u201d he told the gathering, adding that in doing so, they acknowledged that a two-state solution \u2014 based on the pre-1967 lines and grounded in international law, UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements \u2014 is the only credible path to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis, as well as for the wider region.<\/p>\n
The meeting came a year after France and Saudi Arabia co-chaired a summit on the two-state solution during last year\u2019s UNGA.<\/p>\n
Britain, France, Canada and Australia were among the countries that recognized Palestine around the summit, which built on the New York Declaration, a roadmap toward Palestinian statehood produced at a French-Saudi conference in July 2025. The UNGA endorsed the declaration that September.<\/p>\n
Guterres warned that despite that momentum, \u201cthe conditions for an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state are being systematically erased.\u201d<\/p>\n
Citing the International Court of Justice, he said the world has witnessed Israeli policies and practises that amount to unlawful and invalid annexation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsraeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a flagrant violation of international law,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Nearly a decade after the UNSC adopted resolution 2334, which demanded a halt to settlement activity, expansion is accelerating in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and settler violence is \u201cskyrocketing to alarming levels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Demolitions, evictions, displacement, land seizures and violations of the status quo at holy sites are creating an increasingly coercive environment that is driving Palestinian families from their homes and land, \u201craising the specter of ethnic cleansing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Guterres singled out Israel\u2019s E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem, saying its advancement \u201cwould deal a deathblow to the prospect of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>\n
For families in Gaza surrounded by devastation and desperation, he said, promises of a better future \u201cring hollow if they aren\u2019t matched by change on the ground,\u201d adding that the peace plan for the enclave \u201cmust be fully implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support for two states must now go beyond words and be reflected in \u201cpolicies, decisions and actions,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
He urged governments to halt settlement expansion, prevent annexation, support Palestinian institutions and their financial viability, and advance a credible political process to end the occupation and realize Palestinian self-determination. He welcomed recent steps taken by several member states in that direction.<\/p>\n
Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must remain \u201cpolitically, economically and territorially integrated under a single, legitimate, sovereign Palestinian government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe objective is clear,\u201d he added: two independent, sovereign and democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both. \u201cThere\u2019s simply no alternative, and time is running out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n