Obama: 'Status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable'

US President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that “the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable,” Al-Reselah Press reported.

Obama said that he is not willing to allow this situation to continue, calling for implementing the two-state solution to sort out the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

“We cannot afford to turn away from this effort,” Al-Reselah Press quoted him as saying. “So long as I am president, we will stand up for the principle that Israelis, Palestinians, the region and the world will be more just and more safe with two states living side by side, in peace and security.”

Meanwhile, Obama called for a unified global stance in the fight against the Islamic State. “This group has terrorised all who they come across in Iraq and Syria,” he said. “No grievance justifies these actions.”

About how to deal with them, he said: “There can be no reasoning – no negotiation – with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.”

He asked the world to join his country’s coalition against the Islamic State: “Today, I ask the world to join in this effort. For we will not succumb to threats, and we will demonstrate that the future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy.”

Regarding Iran’s nuclear programme, he said: “America is pursuing a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue, as part of our commitment to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and pursue the peace and security of a world without them.”

Obama then called for Iran to seize this historic opportunity to sign a deal with the world powers about its nuclear programme.

“And this can only take place if Iran seizes this historic opportunity. My message to Iran’s leaders and people has been simple and consistent: Do not let this opportunity pass. We can reach a solution that meets your energy needs while assuring the world that your programme is peaceful.”

The American president criticised Russian interference in Ukraine, calling it an aggression on Europe that “recalls the days when large nations trampled small ones in pursuit of territorial ambition.”