NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for “irreversible progress” toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that failure to act risks perpetuating an “intolerable” and worsening crisis.
Speaking at the High-Level International Conference for Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine at the UN General Assembly Hall, he said the decades-long conflict had reached a “morally, legally and politically intolerable” point, citing mounting civilian casualties in Gaza and growing instability in the West Bank.
“We are here today to help navigate the only way out of this nightmare,” Guterres added, emphasizing the UN-backed vision of two independent, sovereign and democratic states — Israel and Palestine — coexisting peacefully within secure and recognized borders based on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the shared capital.
The event was co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, and marked the most concerted international push in recent months to revive momentum toward a negotiated peace.
Guterres thanked both governments for convening the meeting, and reiterated his disappointment that the Palestinian delegation had been “denied the opportunity (by US visa restrictions) to be fully represented.”
