The Israeli government’s rejection of a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is “unacceptable” and risks “perpetuating the conflict,” the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Profimedia

“Last week’s clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest level of the Israeli government is unacceptable,” António Guterres told a council meeting attended by numerous foreign ministers.

“This refusal and denial of the Palestinian people’s right to a state can prolong the conflict indefinitely, which has become a serious threat to international peace and security. It could increase polarization and embolden extremists around the world,” he added.

“The right of the Palestinian people to build their own fully independent state must be recognized by all. And any refusal by any side to accept the decision to create two states must be firmly rejected,” he insisted, believing that this decision is “the only way to achieve a lasting and just peace in Israel, Palestine and the entire region.”

Israel’s government refuses to discuss the “two-state decision,” which has angered the international community, and last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to “Palestinian sovereignty.”

He previously said that Israel must control the security of “the entire area west of the Jordan River,” including the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”

“The Israeli occupation must end,” Antonio Guterres demanded, repeating his call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

According to AFP estimates based on official Israeli figures, the war began with an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, which killed more than 1,140 people, most of them civilians.

Israel has vowed to “destroy” Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, and launched a massive military operation that has killed 25,490 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.

“The population of Gaza as a whole is experiencing destruction on a scale and speed unprecedented in recent history. Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” said António Guterres.

He also called for the opening of new crossing points for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which is still largely underserved for its more than 2 million residents, and for the resumption of operations at the Israeli port of Ashdod.

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