‘No Alternative’ To Two-State Solution, UN Chief Warns As Time Runs Out

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned that “time is running out” to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, saying the foundations of a future Palestinian state are being systematically dismantled.

Guterres made the remarks at a closed high-level meeting on the two-state solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“One year ago, many of your countries joined others in recognizing the State of Palestine,” Guterres said, arguing that such recognition reflected support for a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines, international law, UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements.

He said this remained the only credible framework for achieving lasting peace and security for Palestinians, Israelis and the wider region.

The meeting came a year after France and Saudi Arabia jointly hosted a summit on the two-state solution during the previous UNGA session.

Britain, France, Canada and Australia were among the countries that recognised Palestine around that summit. The process built on the New York Declaration, a roadmap for Palestinian statehood adopted following a French-Saudi conference in July 2025. The UN General Assembly endorsed the declaration in September that year.

However, Guterres warned that the diplomatic momentum had not been matched by developments on the ground.

“The conditions for an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state are being systematically erased,” he said.

Referring to the International Court of Justice, Guterres said Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory had raised concerns over unlawful and invalid annexation.

“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a flagrant violation of international law,” he said.

Guterres also pointed to the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, nearly a decade after the Security Council adopted Resolution 2334, which called for an end to settlement activity.

He said settlement expansion was accelerating and that settler violence had reached “alarming levels”.

Demolitions, evictions, displacement, land seizures and changes to the status quo at holy sites were contributing to what Guterres described as an increasingly coercive environment. He warned that the displacement of Palestinian families from their homes and land was “raising the specter of ethnic cleansing.”

The UN chief specifically highlighted Israel’s E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem, saying its advancement “would deal a deathblow to the prospect of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.”

Turning to Gaza, Guterres said that for Palestinians living amid widespread destruction and desperation, promises of a better future would “ring hollow if they aren’t matched by change on the ground.”

He said the peace plan for Gaza must be fully implemented.

Guterres called on governments to translate their support for a two-state solution into concrete “policies, decisions and actions”. He urged countries to halt settlement expansion, prevent annexation, strengthen Palestinian institutions and their financial viability, and support a credible political process aimed at ending the occupation and achieving Palestinian self-determination.

He also welcomed recent steps taken by several countries in support of Palestinian statehood.

Guterres said Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must remain “politically, economically and territorially integrated” under a single, legitimate and sovereign Palestinian government.

“The objective is clear,” he said, describing it as the establishment of two independent, sovereign and democratic states — Israel and Palestine — living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognised borders based on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem serving as the capital of both.

“There’s simply no alternative, and time is running out,” Guterres said.