United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday reaffirmed that the two-state solution remains the only viable way to resolve the Palestine issue.
“I think we absolutely must do everything and mobilize as much as we can the international community to make sure that the two-state solution prevails,” Guterres said in response to China Media Group at a press conference at the UN headquarters.
The question is simple, what is the alternative? Is it a one-state system where people are stripped of basic rights? Or one where they are displaced from their lands? Is this even possible in the 21st century? Is it acceptable?” he asked. “I believe Israel must realize that a one-state solution involving the subjugation of Palestinians without rights is completely unacceptable.
And so the two-state solution remains the only viable alternative to preserve peace,” he said. “Without a two-state solution, there will be no peace in the Middle East, and extremism will expand everywhere in the world, with consequences that I consider extremely, extremely negative,” Guterres added. The UN chief’s remarks came one day after Israel launched a massive ground offensive in Gaza City.
Guterres also rebuffed claims by U.S. and Israeli officials that recognizing a Palestinian state would be “a gift to Hamas.” “First of all, it’s not a gift to Hamas. It is a gift to the Palestinian people that has also suffered a lot because of Hamas,” he said.
The UN General Assembly last Friday approved a draft resolution supporting the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
(Cover: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefs reporters at UN Headquarters on the start of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 16, 2025. /VCG)