NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday told Arab News that the international community has a duty to do everything in its power to pursue a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and to bring about the conditions that can make it happen.
“It is absolutely essential to keep alive the two-state solution perspective, with all the terrible things we are witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said.
“And for those who have doubts about the two-state solution, I ask what is the alternative? Is it a one-state solution in which either the Palestinians are expelled or the Palestinians will be forced to live on their land without rights? That would be totally unacceptable.
“I firmly believe that it is the duty of the international community to do everything to keep the two-state solution alive and then to materialize the conditions to make it happen.”
His comments came as Saudi Arabia and France prepare to co-chair a global conference this month in an attempt to hasten the implementation of a two-state solution and end decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
