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Guterres reiterates UN commitment to two-state solution

February 13, 2020 at 12:16 pm

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (L) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Palestine Rami Hamdallah (R) in Ramallah, West Bank on 29 August 2017 [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated the organisation’s commitment to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on international resolutions and the two-state solution, Qatari News Agency (QNA) reported yesterday.

During a UN Security Council about the Middle East held following the announcement of the US’ “peace plan”, he reiterated respect for bilateral agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

He also stressed on the importance of having two states living side-by-side in safety and peacefully with clearly defined borders based on the 1967 lines.

Guterres stressed that this time “is the time of dialogue, reconciliation and logic,” calling for the Palestinians and the Israelis to show gestures of good will towards each other ahead of achieving a just and sustainable peace that would get the support of the international community.

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For his part, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, stressed that the UN policy on the issue “is defined by relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements”.

“Following the release of the US proposal, senior Israeli officials vowed to unilaterally annex large portions of the West Bank, including all Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley.”

Mladenov stressed that unilateral steps and plans “would have a devastating impact on the prospect for a two-state solution” and “would close the door to negotiations.”

Such steps, he added, would “severely undermine opportunities for normalisation and regional peace.”

He stressed that “political leadership and serious reflection on what needs to be done to bring the parties back to the negotiating table” is urgently needed now.