Antonio Guterres says recent developments in the occupied West Bank “drive a stake through the heart” of a two-state solution.
Israel’s policy towards the occupied West Bank dooms any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has 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, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday.
Settlement expansion is expected to accelerate due to massive land seizures in strategic areas and changes in planning, land management and governance, Guterres added.
“Recent developments drive a stake into the heart of any prospect of a two-state solution,” the UN chief said.
Israeli military raids, 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 such 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 reiterated 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 on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the attacks by Hamas on October 7 is estimated at 1,139, with dozens still being held captive in Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a moral stain on all of us,” Guterres said.
Meeting disrupted by protest
At the UN Security Council’s quarterly session on the Middle East on Wednesday, Israel’s war on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip dominated the agenda.
“What is happening in Gaza is considered the most documented genocide in history,” Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said at the session. “When will the world denounce these crimes and stop tolerating their recurrence?”
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan accused Hamas of crimes against humanity and said the Israeli captives were being held by “terrorist organizations supported and inspired by Iran.”
The UN Security Council meeting was briefly interrupted after Erdan’s speech by two women dressed in black, who stood with placards and shouted for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian groups in Gaza.
U.N. security officers asked the women to leave the room, which they did, a U.N. official said.
The protest came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began addressing the 15-member body.
Lavrov, who was chairing the meeting because Russia holds the UN Security Council presidency for the month of July, responded: “I don’t understand, speak more clearly. One of you can speak clearly to say what he wants to say. I see you don’t want to, very well.”
Protests inside the UN headquarters in New York are rare.