HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday slammed Israel’s continued illegal settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, calling them "morally, legally, and politically intolerable."

"Let's have no illusions: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone unresolved for generations," Guterres said in New York at an international conference on Palestine and the two-state solution, emphasizing the failure of diplomacy and UN resolutions.

Guterres began by thanking France and Saudi Arabia for organizing the event, but expressed "disappointment" over the US denying Palestinian officials the "opportunity to be fully represented" at this week’s UN General Assembly and related gatherings, referring to its denying them visas.

Decrying the rapid deterioration of the "intolerable" situation in the Gaza Strip, Guterres said: "International law has been breached. Decades of diplomacy have come up short."

Noting the need for a two-state solution, the UN chief welcomed more member states' recent recognition of the state of Palestine.

While condemning the events of Oct. 7, 2023, Guterres further stressed that "nothing can justify collective punishment of the Palestinian people or any form of ethnic cleansing."

Listing off the atrocities since then, he mentioned “the systematic decimation of Gaza. The starvation of the population. The killing of tens of thousands of civilians, most of them women and children, and hundreds of our own humanitarians.”  

‘Existential threat to 2-state solution’

On the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank, Guterres said "the relentless expansion of settlements, the creeping threat of annexation, (and) the intensification of settler violence," are all "an existential threat to a two-state solution."

"All of it must stop," he said, calling it "morally, legally and politically intolerable."

Calling on all states to "recommit" to a two-state solution, Guterres asked its opponents: "What is the alternative?"

"A one-state scenario where Palestinians are denied basic rights? Expelled from their homes and their land? Forced to live under perpetual occupation, discrimination, and subjugation?" he asked.

Emphasizing that such a "one-state" scenario "will only increase the growing isolation of Israel on the global stage," the UN chief reaffirmed that "statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward."

"And denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere," he said, adding that it would only pave the way for "radicalism" around the world.

Guterres urged the conference to be "a catalyst, spurring irreversible progress towards ending the unlawful occupation, and realizing our shared aspiration for a viable two-state solution."

Urging all sides to show "bold and principled" leadership, he also called on all member states to "ensure the two-state solution prevails, for the people of Israel, Palestine, and all humanity."