Seize Two-State Momentum amid Darkest Chapters of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Secretary-General Tells Security Council

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks to the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, in New York today:

We are confronting one of the darkest chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nearly two years after the horrific Hamas terror attacks of 7 October 2023 and the devastating Israeli military response that followed, the violence has only deepened across the Occupied Palestinian Territory - with grave threats to regional and global peace and security.

The Israeli military onslaught in Gaza City is compounding an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Countless Palestinian civilians and the remaining hostages are trapped under relentless bombardment and deprived of food, water, electricity and medicine.

Famine is a reality - with the population constantly forced to move and being starved. To call this situation untenable and morally and legally indefensible does not begin to capture the scale of human suffering.

I have repeatedly appealed for an immediate permanent ceasefire; the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages; and immediate, unconditional and unhindered humanitarian access.

UN resolutions continue to be ignored. International humanitarian law violated. Impunity prevails. And our collective credibility is being undermined.

The violence is spreading from Gaza into the Occupied West Bank, and beyond, including several countries in the region - and recently even Qatar. Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal - led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States - suffered a serious blow on 9 September.

The Israeli attack was not only a violation of Qatar's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it also threatened the very norms and mechanisms we rely on for diplomacy and conflict resolution.

The viability of a two-State solution is steadily eroding, now reaching its most critical level in more than a generation. Relentless settlement-expansion, de facto annexation, forced displacement.

Cycles of deadly violence, including by extremist settlers, have entrenched an unlawful Israeli occupation and pushed us perilously close to a point of no return.

Israel's recent approval of settlement construction in the E1 area is especially alarming. If implemented, it would sever the Occupied West Bank - destroying the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian State. Israeli settlements are not just a political issue - they are a flagrant violation of international law.

At the same time, the Palestinian Authority is facing an existential crisis. Fiscal, political and institutional pressures are undermining its ability to function.

Israel's withholding of clearance revenues, the suffocation of the Palestinian economy and a sharp decline in donor aid have left the Palestinian Authority unable to pay salaries or deliver basic services. Urgent international support - financial and political - is needed to stabilize the Palestinian Authority and preserve its viability as a partner for peace.

And yet, amid the darkness, a glimmer of hope emerged yesterday with the resumption of the High-Level International Conference on a Two-State Solution. I commend France and Saudi Arabia for co-chairing this important meeting - and for helping to reignite political momentum.

I welcome the recognition of Palestinian statehood by many more countries, including permanent members of the Council, France and the United Kingdom. This is the clearest path to a two-State solution - Israel and an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine - living side by side in peace and security, on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, based on international law and UN resolutions.

We must seize this momentum. The so-called "day after" in Gaza must be anchored in international law, reject any form of ethnic cleansing, and have a clear political horizon toward a viable two-State solution.

And as I said to the General Assembly this morning, we must urgently reverse the dangerous trends on the ground. Relentless settler expansion and violence, and the looming threat of annexation must stop.

The calls of the International Court of Justice must be heeded - including for Israel to immediately cease settlement activities and end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The illegal occupation must end. And we must support Palestinian institutions - politically and financially - to carry out essential reforms and ensure fiscal stability.

A just and lasting peace will never be built through more violence. It demands a collective commitment - to diplomacy, to international law, to the dignity of all people.

There are actions that the Security Council must take. There are responsibilities each member of this Council must uphold. We cannot let this fragile moment slip away.