António Guterres claims that recent developments in the occupied West Bank are “putting a stake at the heart” of a two-state solution.
Israel’s policy towards the occupied West Bank is dooming any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Through administrative and legal measures, Israel is changing the geography of the West Bank, Guterres said in a statement read by his chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday.
Settlement expansion is expected to accelerate due to large land seizures in strategic areas and changes in planning, land management and governance, Guterres added.
“Recent developments are putting into question any prospect of a two-state solution,” said the UN chief.
Israeli military strikes, arrests of Palestinians and settler violence have increased in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October.
Guterres noted that Israel has taken punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority and legalized five Israeli outposts in the West Bank.
Israel has built these outposts as part of its occupation of the West Bank since 1967.
“We must change course. All settlement activities must cease immediately,” Guterres said.
The UN chief also repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of all hostages.
At least 38,794 people have been killed and 89,364 injured in Israel’s war in Gaza since 7 October. The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is estimated at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a moral stain on all of us,” said Guterres.
Meeting interrupted by protest
At the UN Security Council’s quarterly session on the Middle East on Wednesday, Israel’s war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip dominated the agenda.
“What is happening in Gaza is being considered the most documented genocide in history,” said Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, at the session. “When will the world denounce crimes and stop tolerating their recurrence?”
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, accused Hamas of crimes against humanity and said that the Israeli prisoners were being held by “terrorist organizations inspired and supported by Iran”.
The UNSC meeting was briefly interrupted after Erdan’s speech by two women dressed in black, who held up signs and shouted for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian groups in Gaza.
UN security asked the women to leave the chamber and they did so, a UN official said.
The demonstration came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began addressing the 15-member body.
Lavrov, who chaired the meeting because Russia is the president of the Security Council in July, responded: “I don’t understand, speak more clearly. One of you can speak clearly to say what you want. I see you don’t want to do that, very well.
Protests inside the UN headquarters in New York are rare.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
